


Moon Story Remix

by sakasamahoshizora



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Gen, Remix
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 20:51:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 64,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16394867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakasamahoshizora/pseuds/sakasamahoshizora
Summary: Sure, Thursday started out the same as it usually did; sleeping in and being late for school. Totally normal, right? Then you stop to help a cat and your whole world turns upside down...





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Was feeling nostalgic so here's a fun little reimagining of the Sailor Moon story.

As if emerging from some unfathomable depth, Usagi slowly came awake, wrapped up in a thick blanket burrito staring at the ceiling and pondering the intense feeling she had forgotten a very important dream. The harder she tried to remember the more out of reach it seemed. What had she been dreaming about? Maybe if she went back to sleep she could see it again? Wasn’t there a word for that? Lapin dreams? Lucy dreams? Lewd dreams?

Great, now she couldn’t remember the right word either. Usagi squirmed in frustration and happened to glance at the clock.

8:26.

Wait. What day was it again? Her phone was on the side table charging, so she snaked a hand out of the duvet and promptly smacked her wrist against the corner of the table. At first the tears of pain kept her from reading the display but eventually it came into view.

8:28  
5/17 (Thu)

_Crap, I’m late!_

Usagi threw off the duvet and floundered out of bed. She snatched her uniform up off the chair and shrugged it on, hurriedly brushed her hair and worked it into her customary pigtails, grabbed her school bag and thundered down the stairs wailing, “Moooommmm… whydinchuuwakemeuuuuup?!”

Her mother looked up from her coffee with a long-suffering look. “I woke you up at least three times, you just don’t remember. There’s toast for you there next to your lunch, eat it on the way.”

Usagi snatched a piece of toast with a rushed, “Thanks.” She couldn’t argue with her mother because she knew she was right. Mornings, why did they have to be so hard? Why couldn’t school start from like, noon? Or a more reasonable time like 3 in the afternoon? Holding the toast in her mouth, she stuffed her feet in her shoes and mumble-shouted that she was heading out. At the gate she remembered she forgot her phone up in her room but oh well, she was going to be late again. It was fine. Time for her morning run.

Usagi hated exercise but if there was one thing she was good at, it was long-distance running.

As she turned onto the school route though, she saw literally no one else in her uniform so already she could see it was hopeless. Let’s see, the walk usually took about 25 minutes, 30 if it was cold and she stopped at the convenience store for a steamed bun… or it was hot and she stopped for morning ice cream… or she was tired and stopped for a soda… okay usually the walk took just over 30 minutes. The first bell rang at 8:45. She got out of bed at 8:30ish and between getting dressed and grabbing toast and…

Yeahhh… never mind the math, math was hard. She was already late.

Time to think of an excuse. Maybe she could distract her teacher by asking what that thing about the dream was called. Level dreams?

One more corner and suddenly her train of thought was derailed by the strained and faint sound of a cat in distress. Usagi skid to a stop and looked around, finding an empty lot between two houses at the source of the caterwauling. The cat sounded truly in distress, so she poked around and eventually traced it back to a toolbox left next to some construction equipment. Usagi crouched down and popped the latch. The moment she lifted the lid a streak of black rushed over her shoulder to dash through the air and land in the form of a small black cat atop a pile of concrete tubes used for sewers.

Usagi and the cat stared each other down.

“Who shut you in there?” Usagi asked, meaning it rhetorically.

To her surprise, the cat answered with an air of cultured disdain, “Some dumb kids.”

Usagi took a long moment to try and process this. Nah. The cat did not just talk. She just wasn’t awake yet.

“Elusive dreams? Was that it?” she asked the cat. No, no, she was on a different topic now. This was dreaming while you were awake but not daydreaming, which was something completely different. Anyway, the cat didn’t have an answer and she was most definitely late for school now. Usagi took off running. Would rescuing a cat count as an excuse for being late?

 

“Rescuing a cat?” Haruna-sensei repeated the words, each syllable practically dripping with skepticism. “How did it even get in the toolbox?”

Usagi kept her eyes as wide and innocent looking as she could. “I donno, maybe some dumb kids shut it in there... for like... Youtube or something.”

Her homeroom teacher crossed her arms and stared her down.

“I’m telling the truth!”

“Okay, say I believe you. Would you have been late for class anyway without stopping to help the cat?”

“Um…” Usagi stalled, then her shoulders slumped. “You know me too well.”

“Mm-hm, see you after school for detention.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Usagi dragged herself over to her desk and flopped down into the seat. To further her display of despondency, she folded her arms on her desk and set her chin upon them in a huff.

Her best friend Naru gave her a sympathetic smile. “At least you saved the cat?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t even get to pet it.” Usagi suddenly sat straight. “Hey, Naru, what’s the word for a dream where you can like, control what’s going on?”

“You can’t control your dreams, silly,” Naru chided her.

“No, I’m telling you, you can sometimes and there’s a word for it! Lu… lu… la… luhhhh…”

“Tsukino, stop singing and pay attention,” Haruna yelled from the front of the room.

Usagi rolled her eyes and flumped back down to slump over her desk. Outside the window was a perfect blue sky… just the right conditions for a nap in the shade… with a picnic lunch… filled with little sandwiches… and pickles… and fried chicken… and chocolate cheesecake… a bag or two of potato chips… and some scones with jam… maybe some macarons…

Man…

One piece of toast was not enough for breakfast. How long until lunch again?


	2. Moon Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midnight adventures...

Usagi sank to the grass and cradled her bundled-up lunchbox to her face. “Ohh my darling, my sweet, the love of my life, I thought of you all morning. What glorious wonders do you have for me today, I... wonder?”

Across from her, her friends Yumiko and Kuri exchanged amused glances. Naru just laughed as she unwrapped her own lunch.

“Oh, hey,” Yumiko said at one point over their food, “did you guys see the news this morning? Don’t worry, Usagi, we know you didn’t.”

“You’re right, but still,” Usagi stuck her tongue out at her.

Kuri shook her head. “I was cramming for this afternoon’s quiz…”

Usagi choked on her fried chicken. She’d forgotten about that quiz.

“...and didn’t watch any TV this morning. What happened?”

“Are you talking about the jewel thief?” Naru asked.

“You bet I am! You better watch yourself, Naru.” Yumiko poked at her with her chopsticks.

Usagi turned to Naru with worry. Naru’s mother ran a jewelry shop and the two of them lived above it. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Naru waved her worries aside with a lackadaisical shake of her hand. “I’m not worried about it. Even my mom laughed it off when she saw the news. I mean, think about it, a guy who dresses up in a tuxedo and goes around robbing jewelry stores in this day and age! That’s insane!”

“A tuxedo?” Usagi repeated.

Yumiko leaned back on her hands and laughed. “Yeah, with like, a cape and a mask and everything. Like Phantom of the Opera or something.”

Kuri laughed too. “That sounds ridiculous. What’s the point of dressing in a way that stands out if you’re going to steal stuff?”

“That’s the thing though,” Naru shrugged. “According to what Mom heard from other jewelers, nothing is ever actually missing. He just breaks in, goes through all the uncut stones and jewelry, and leaves without taking anything.”

“Sounds like he’s searching for something,” Yumiko suggested.

“Magic cufflinks?” Kuri snickered.

“The world’s most perfect tie pin?” Yumiko suggested with a giggle.

“What else goes with a tuxedo?” Naru laughed.

“Umm… a pocket watch?” Usagi said the first thing that popped into her mind.

“A magic pocket watch!” Naru chimed in enthusiastically. “It lets him travel through time.”

The three girls dissolved into giggles in a heap on the grass.

Usagi shovelled the last bit of her rice into her mouth thoughtfully. A sharp dressed jewel thief, huh? Sounded like something out of a manga or... something. “Tuxedos are hot.”

“Yeah, but let’s keep them restricted to like, weddings, okay?” Naru rolled her eyes.

“But seriously though, you’re not worried, Naru?” Yumiko asked as she picked herself up.

Naru shook her head. “Nah. Why would a jewel thief come to our little shop?”

“Well, now that you’ve said that…” Kuri trailed off.

“You jinxed yourself,” Usagi added.

“The phaaaaantom of the opera is theeerrrre… insiiiide your… jewel safe. Or something.” Yumiko sang in mock dramatics.

“Stealing your magic pocket watches,” Kuri barely got the words out before she was laughing again.

“Nooo, not my magic pocket watches!”

Usagi put her lunchbox back together and replaced it into its satchel, listening as her friends’ chatter veered off onto other topics. There was still some time before the bell, so she laid back in the grass under the warm spring sun and contemplated a tiny nap. The sky was high and incredibly blue above her. The breeze was just right, rustling the leaves of the tree next to where they’d chosen to eat, sunlight coming through the leaves to dapple her already golden pigtails in warm light. One of the speckles of light caught her in the face and she blinked, putting one hand up to shade her eyes. As she did so, she caught sight of motion in the tree that wasn’t caused by the wind.

It was a cat. A black cat. The same one as this morning, she realized, since she could see the little crescent moon shaped bald spot on its forehead. Did it follow her to school? 

Usagi suddenly bolted upright. “Oh yeah!” She turned to her friends. “Hey, guys, what’s the word for when you’re dreaming but you can control what’s happening? Is it loop dreams?”

“You’re still thinking about that?” Naru raised her eyebrows at her, the same time as Yumiko echoed her earlier sentiment that dreams couldn’t be controlled.

“No, wait,” Kuri put a finger to her chin. “There is a word for that… what was it…?”

“See?!” Usagi flailed at Naru, “I knew there was a word for it! Anyway, the cat I rescued is in the tree, I just saw it!”

Everyone looked up…

“I don’t see any cat,” Naru put her hand to her eyes and searched the branches.

“It was there!” Usagi insisted, but sure enough, the tree was empty of feline occupants.

“Are you sure?”  
“Were you dreaming again?”  
“What is that word…?”

Back at the school, the first bell signalling the end of the lunch break rang. The girls put cats and vocabulary and tuxedoed jewel thieves out of their minds. They grabbed their things and hurried off to class.

In their wake, a little black cat curled into view around the tree. She watched the girls go, blinking in that slow, owlish way that cats do when they’re thinking unfathomable thoughts before turning tail and dashing through the grass.

 

The sun was just dipping behind the rooftops when Usagi finally got out of detention. After her poor performance in the afternoon quiz, Haruna had made her review all the quizzes they’d done over the whole term so far. It had been torture, completely unfair, and on top of that she was hungry. She thought about stopping at the convenience store for a snack but no, never mind, she didn’t have any money, she’d spent all her allowance at the game center last weekend.

Ahh, the game center. Usagi stopped briefly at the entrance to the shopping street housing said game center. Was Motoki working today, she wondered? Just seeing his handsome face would make her day a whole lot better. Also she still hadn’t made it past level 2 of the new Sailor V game.

But no, no money, no food in stomach, she really should get home.

She immediately regretted this decision the moment she opened the door and her mother was waiting for her. Not only that, but her younger brother, Shingo, was peeking around from inside the living room with an eager grin to top off an already sour afternoon.

“And just where have you been?” her mother demanded.

“Um… school?”

“So you got detention again?”

Usagi shrank and composed her best feel-sorry-for-me face. “Yeah…”

“I heard from Umino’s mother you had a quiz today, how did that go?”

 _Damn you, Umino…_ Usagi inwardly cursed her classmate. Her mother would be friends with the mother of the biggest nerd in the whole grade. Sure there was a girl in the next class who was smarter, but Umino was nerdier. He collected bugs. He wore coke bottle glasses. He even had that cliched nasal “nerd” voice. Usagi still remembered that time he got a Nintendo DS before she did when they were kids and he didn’t even get any games for it. He had a Nintendo DS and all he did was practice kanji and English on it. Who does that?!

“Usagi, the quiz?” Her mother brought her crashing back to the present.

“Yeahhh… about that…” She peeked up to gauge her chances of getting out of being in trouble. Chances looked somewhere between miniscule to nonexistent. “You see… it didn’t… go… exactly as well as I might have liked...”

“What was your score?”

Usagi swallowed hard at her tone. “Th-Thirty…”

The fallout was as expected. The lecture lasted until her father came home from work, prompting a shift to finishing dinner preparations instead, and Usagi was sent to her room. She made sure to shoot the nastiest glare she could muster at Shingo on her way. He’d been watching the whole time with abject glee just to annoy her.

Once in her room, she dropped herself heavily on the bed and grabbed her phone. She replied to a message from Naru asking how detention went with multiple cry emojis, scrolled through Instagram, then dropped the phone on the pillow with a yawn. Ugh. Might as well take a nap before dinner. She sank into the duvet, the weight of sleep slowly creeping over her…

Only for her to be wrenched back into wakefulness by the creak of her window. She knew that sound but she wasn’t certain it had been open when she came in. Had it been open? She couldn’t remember. Only one way to find out. She opened one eye and leaned her head back and up to bring the window into view. It was definitely open, and sitting on the window sil…

...was the cat from this morning.

“Hoooly crap!” Usagi tumbled right off the bed. She scrambled on the floor and popped her head up to make sure the cat really was there and it wasn’t her imagination. Nope, cat there, same crescent-shaped bald spot on her forehead, same big, orange eyes staring her down in what looked like a mix of curiosity and disapproval. That was a look only a cat could make.

The cat cleared her throat. “I apologize for the intrusion, but this is the first time you’ve been alone since this morning.”

“Well, you know, school and all…” Usagi said, still hiding behind the bed.

“Indeed. I noticed you spent much of it napping.”

Usagi’s ears prickled as she felt her face flush in embarrassment. “I’m, uh… growing?”

The cat sat straighter and ignored this attempt at an excuse in favor of getting, seemingly, to the point. “I wish to thank you for your assistance this morning.”

“Oh. Um. Don’t mention it.” Some of the tension left her shoulders, but Usagi didn’t get up off the floor or let go of her grip on the duvet. If the cat made one wrong move she’d throw the blanket over her and toss the whole bundle out the window. “Glad I found you before you ran out of air or something. You better stay away from kids from now on, no matter how much tuna they offer you.”

“I shall do my utmost best,” the cat replied dryly.

Usagi shrank down a little bit. That did sound a bit like blaming the victim, she realized.

“Forgive me,” said the incredibly polite cat, “I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Luna, and truth be told, I think you are just the person I’ve been searching for.”

“You’ve been… searching for someone?”

“Yes.”

“And you think that person is me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“For one thing, you seem to be taking the fact that you understand me very well.”

“I guess now that you mention it a talking cat is pretty weird.”

“It’s because we share a bond, a magical link of sorts, Usagi. It has led me to you, and it may potentially lead you to great things.” Luna got up and walked closer to her, greatly reducing the chances of Usagi successfully pulling off her blanket-and-toss backup plan. “My intuition tells me it is your destiny to help me.”

“My destiny?”

“Usagi?” Her mother called from downstairs. “Dinner time!”

“Coming!” Usagi shouted, then put her palms together as a visual apology to Luna. “Can my destiny wait until after dinner? Thanks!” She was out the door before Luna could get a word in otherwise. Was it safe to let the strange talking cat stay in her room? Who knew? It smelled like dinner was curry and rice, and Usagi had priorities.

 

Dinner was curry and rice with a salad of fresh vegetables and egg drop soup, plus some mini cakes her father had gotten from a client, all with a side of lecturing her about taking school more seriously and studying more. Usagi helped herself to a second cake in an attempt to make herself feel better. On the counter next to the box was her father’s newspaper, where a prominently featured article caught her eye.

“They were talking about this at lunch at school today,” she mentioned absently as she unwrapped her cake. “This is about that jewel thief, right?”

“Yes, I heard some of the tabloids are trying to call him a modern day Lupin III for the Heisei Era or some nonsense, but most seem to have defaulted to calling him the masked tuxedo jewel thief,” her father answered with a glance at the paper.

“It’s dreadful,” her mother commented, “I hope Naru and her mother are okay.”

“Naru says her shop is too small probably…” Usagi trailed off, her eyes drawn to the grainy surveillance photo of the thief. He even had a top hat. She had to admire his dedication to the whole costume gimmick. “I wonder what he’s looking for.”

“If he hasn’t actually stolen anything how can they call him a jewel thief?” Shingo asked.

To which his father brightly answered, “Masked tuxedo serial break-and-enter-er probably just doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

The mysterious jewel non-thief was on her mind as Usagi snuck a third cake and also grabbed a fish sausage from the fridge before heading to the stairs. “Thanks for dinner. I’m gonna go study.”

“Good!”

Shingo shot his mother a skeptical look. “You believe her?”

“Positive thinking, Shingo.”

Usagi stuck her tongue out at the both of them and dashed up the stairs before she could be scolded for it. Rounding the corner into her bedroom, she found Luna curled up on her bed much where she’d left her. The cat raised her head when she entered, and watched as Usagi sat crosslegged in the middle of the floor.

“I brought you a fish sausage.”

“Thank you. If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to eat it after we’ve finished our talk.”

“Sure.” Usagi leaned back and set the sausage and the cake on her desk. She then twisted her body and with her fingertips pushed the bedroom door shut for good measure. “Something about destiny you were saying?” The door moved easier than she expected and she lost her precarious hold on balance to roll onto her back with an awkward squawk.

Luna looked unimpressed as she picked herself up. “Yes, well, as I was saying, we were drawn together and you not only understand me, but you’ve taken my being a talking cat in stride rather well.”

This was true, it was only growing less and less remarkable that Luna could talk. There was a feeling of familiarity that had replaced her initial surprise. It was like she’d always known Luna could talk, the way you find familiarity in the small mannerisms and idiosyncrasies of an old friend.

Usagi grabbed her ankles and rocked back and forth. “So what’s our super mission of destiny?”

“I’m searching for the Silver Moon Crystal.”

“Silver Moon Crystal?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Luna grimaced. “I’m actually not certain. Do you ever feel like you’ve forgotten something important?”

“All the time,” Usagi replied, a bright smile on her face.

Luna sighed. “I’m not sure we’re quite on the same wavelength but anyway, I don’t know why exactly. But I am certain that the Silver Moon Crystal is the key to unlocking these memories that I’m missing. It may do the same for you, too.”

Usagi thought on this. She didn't particularly feel like she was missing any memories but, “If it’s a crystal you’re looking for, do you mean like a jewel or something?”

“It’s possible.”

“So basically you want to do the same thing as that tuxedo mask guy?” She rocked back again and pursed her lips at the ceiling. “I wonder if he’s looking for the same thing.” Her body rocked forwards and she smacked her palms on the floor, eyes wide, “Omigod Luna, are YOU the tuxedo mask thief?!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Luna deadpanned.

“Do I get to wear a tuxedo?”

“No.”

“Aww…”

“Although…” Luna trailed off thoughtfully, “we will be going out at night and it would be troublesome if you were recognized. I have just the thing...” She got up from where she was curled up sphynx-like on the bed and stretched briefly before springing up into the air and doing a backflip. In her wake a string of sparkles appeared in the air, swirling and coming together in the form of something short and oblong, with a red gem at one end. It dropped on the bed and Usagi got up on her knees to get a close look at it.

“It’s a pen.”

“It’s a disguise pen,” Luna stepped delicately over from where she’d landed. “You can use it to obscure your identity.”

“No freaking way,” Usagi picked up the pen to look it over in excited curiosity. “Are you kidding me? How does it work?”

Luna blinked twice and seemed to struggle a bit to remember. “You say ‘moon power’ and tell it what you want to disguise yourself as.”

“‘Moon power’? Why ‘moon’ power?”

“I’m… not sure. But I have a strong feeling we’ll know soon. Anyway, give it a try.”

Usagi looked the pen over curiously, then shrugged and held it in front of her face. “ _Moon power…!_ Turn me into a tuxedoed jewel thief with a mask and a cape and a top hat!”

Glitter exploded from the gem at the end of the pen and swirled, showering over her and she had to shut her eyes against the light. Her whole body tingled, and when the glare died down and she could open her eyes again, she was indeed dressed in a tuxedo that fit perfectly, a cape laid heavily over her shoulders and she could see with a glance at her vanity mirror that a top hat was perched atop her head at a jaunty angle. Her blonde hair was out of its pigtails, gathered instead into one long ponytail that curled down her back with a big silky black ribbon holding it at the nape of her neck. An elaborate masquerade mask obscured the top half of her face, and the look was completed with striking, bold crimson lipstick.

“I look amazing!” she squealed. She reached for her phone. “I gotta take a picture and send it to Naru!”

“That would defeat the purpose of a disguise,” Luna pointed out dryly.

“Naru can keep a secret.”

“Usagi?” Her mother’s voice sounded in the hall. “Who are you talking to?”

“Crap, it’s Mom! Pen, turn me back! Turn me back!!” 

Usagi hurriedly shook glitter from the pen and Luna dashed under the bed. They both managed to be just in time for when her mother opened the door and poked her head in.

“I heard you talking. Were you on the phone with Naru? You’re supposed to be studying.”

“I uh… had a question. About our homework. Yeah.” Usagi held the disguise pen behind her back and made her best attempt at looking innocent. It didn’t seem to work, because her mother looked decidedly unconvinced. Usagi stepped in front of the desk devoid of any homework for good measure.

Luckily her mother believed the talking to Naru part, because she left with the parting warning, “Well, stop chatting and go take a bath. Then you can actually do your homework.”

“Okayyy…” Usagi fingerwaved all the way until she heard the door click shut. As soon as it did, she glanced towards the bed and met Luna’s eyes as the cat popped out from underneath. They shared a mutual sigh.

“So we’re sneaking out to go crystal hunting after my parents go to bed, right?”

“I think that would be best.”

 

It was late and the full moon was high in the sky when Luna and Tuxedo-Usagi slipped out the window into the night. Usagi struggled a bit climbing down the tree to ground-level, but miraculously she made it without falling on her butt. The residential street was empty of life, but she was keenly aware of the clack-clack-clack of her polished heels echoing off the walls in the silence.

“So where to first?”

Luna stopped at a street corner and closed her eyes briefly before dashing to the right in the direction of the shopping district. “This way.”

Luna’s intuition eventually led them through the shopping district to one of the big, old department stores that stood staunchly against the march of time, all dusty rose brick and heavy off-white stone arches that spoke of a time long before Usagi or even her parents had been born. As Usagi looked up at the building, she spied a shadow moving way up on the roof.

She pointed it out to Luna. “How can we get up there?”

“The fire escape,” Luna answered simply.

Usagi made a face. “Stairs?”

Luna turned and headed for the alley without so much as a shred of sympathy. “Come on.”

 

Somewhere around a million and a half flights of stairs later, Usagi clambered over the gate to the roof and doubled over, gasping for air. “This whole… sexy jewel thief life… isn’t… as glamorous… as I… imagined…”

“Are you quite finished?” Luna asked.

Usagi adjusted her top hat. “For now. Oh, wow. Check out the moon.”

Being up on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in the immediate area gave her an unhindered look at the big, bright full moon. It was a cloudless night, leaving it on full display amidst a smattering of stars. It looked absolutely gorgeous, and captivated Usagi’s attention until movement in the shadows caught her eye and she looked down and over just in time for a man to emerge and stop abruptly at the sight of her.

He was roughly a head taller than her, maybe more since she was in heels at the moment. He had broad shoulders under the perfectly pressed tuxedo jacket. Unlike Usagi’s cape, which was fastened under her chin, his was attached at the shoulders with deep crimson gems inlaid in burnished gold, a thin chain crossing his chest between them. She could just make out raven black hair crisscrossing the white domino mask he wore over his eyes under the brim of his top hat.

Her heart nearly stopped at the sight of him, and not entirely just from the surprise.

“What are you doing up here?” he asked, his voice sounding more boyish than she would have expected.

“Um. What are _you_ doing up here?” Usagi bounced the question back to him.

“It’s none of your business,” he said darkly.

“Yeah, well,” Usagi stood a little straighter. “My business is my business too.”

Luna twisted around her ankles and hissed, “Usagi, be careful. I sense danger.”

“You think he’s dangerous?” Usagi glanced between Luna and the tuxedoed man. He was mysterious, sure, but he didn’t seem especially dangerous somehow.

“Hard to say, but be on your guard.”

“Who are you talking to?” the man asked suspiciously.

“No one. Anyway, if you’re going in here to look at the jewelry section, you better know that I’m going too.” Did that give away her reason for being here? At the very least it gave away that she knew why he was here. Oh well, too late now, the words were out in the air.

“You sound awfully young for a jewel thief,” he said, cocking his head at her, and was that a bit of a smile she spotted?

Usagi bristled. Okay, so there was only so much a disguise could hide. Before she could think of a response, something in the air seemed to shift, disorienting her. What was it? There was a tingling that went all the way up to the top of her scalp, like a combination of that weird feeling you’re being watched and the eerie apprehension that hovered in the air the morning of a large typhoon.

“Luna,” she whispered, “do you feel that?”

“My senses are keener than a human’s, I’ve been on edge since we got here.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“I just did! I told you I sensed danger!”

“I thought you meant him!”

“I’m still not sure I didn’t!” Luna stood up straighter. “Wait, where’d he go?”

“Huh?!” Usagi cast wildly about to see where the tuxedoed man went and caught sight of him going through an emergency exit door. “Hey!” She chased after him, bursting through the door and clattering precariously down the stairs in her heels. “Ugh, more stairs. At least we’re going down this time. Hey, shouldn’t there be an alarm going off or something?”

“I disabled the alarm,” the man called back.

“Oh, cool, you can do that? This definitely isn’t your first ti-i-i-iiiime!” Usagi stepped wrong on one of the stairs and her heel went one way while her ankle went the other. Her balance thrown, she wobbled and windmilled her arms to no avail, there was no regaining it and she pitched forward with nothing to do but close her eyes and wait for the pain.

Instead of hard concrete stairs, she bumped into something decidedly softer, warmer, and more human-like. Usagi opened her eyes to find the tuxedoed man had caught her by the upper arms, the motion and her momentum knocking both their hats to the ground. He’d halted her fall with her feet on the step above him, so they were eye-to-eye, and close enough that she could see his ocean-blue eyes through the mask. Her heart beat so fast it was hard to breathe.

“Um, careful…” he steadied her and let go too soon, stooping down to retrieve their hats. He set hers on her head and that little wisp of a smile crossed his face again. “Let’s go, little cosplayer.”

Usagi blushed, and she retorted, “Y-You’re one to talk!” as she followed him down the stairs. She wondered what he looked like without the mask…

 

Some floors down, he pushed open the door to the store proper and slipped inside. Usagi followed and noted that this was the top floor of the main store section of the building, so they’d bypassed the office and restaurant floors. It was deathly quiet apart from their running footsteps, and the deep shadows and green emergency exit lamps glowing like eyes around the perimeter were giving her the creeps. “H-Hey, wait up…!”

“The first jewelry shop is two floors down, come on.”

“Don’t ask him to wait up, he might be the enemy,” Luna warned her.

“I donno, Luna, he doesn’t seem very enemy-ish to me?” Usagi gave up on the high-heels and held them in her hand as she descended the first flight of stairs. The marble was cool under her feet and felt good after spending so much time in shoes she wasn’t used to. She was so preoccupied by this, she didn’t notice the tuxedoed man disappear from view, nor the way the air seemed to grow thicker and colder the further down she went.

This didn’t escape Luna’s notice, however. At the bottom of the second flight of stairs, she hissed, “Stop,” and stood perfectly still with her hackles raised. “Something’s wrong.”

Usagi gripped the rail to steady herself as she put her shoes back on and peered ahead into the gloom. “It feels creepy here.” The hair went up on the back of her neck and Usagi whipped around, certain that someone was watching her. It took several sweeps of the room but eventually she saw… him? Her? It was hard to say. She had the faintest impression of someone on the upper floor, over at the edge of the railing overlooking the landing she stood on. The face was shrouded in dark shadows, only the whites of their eyes showed, as if they drew in the scant light available rather than catching it.

Usagi’s stomach did a double somersault. She hoped it wasn’t a ghost she was seeing.

Oh wow, what if it _was_ a ghost? If magic pens existed it stood to reason that ghosts did too, right? Right??

“Luna, is it my imagination or is someone watching us from up there?” she whispered out the corner of her mouth. “Cats can see ghosts, can’t they?”

“There’s no such thing as ghosts,” Luna hissed back, “I think.”

Usagi felt a whine start to build in the back of her throat. This wasn’t fun anymore. Luna could look for her stupid crystal on her own, she wanted to go home. Where’d that guy go? Cautiously she called out, “Tuxedo… guy? Hello? You here still?”

Suddenly a crash sounded from somewhere to her left and snapped Usagi out of the blind panic she’d nearly fallen into. Both she and Luna took off running, the mysterious shadow figure on the upper floor all but forgotten. They rounded a corner and both nearly stumbled as they came upon the jewelry shop and struggled to make a quick stop. Usagi very nearly lost her balance again, and Luna’s claws audibly scraped the marble floor.

A hulking figure, barely a shade lighter than the shadows themselves loomed over the tuxedoed man. One of the glass cases was smashed, its contents glinting faintly where they were scattered across the floor. None of them seemed especially noteworthy. More importantly, if the person back at the stairs hadn’t been a ghost, this creepy figure most definitely was a--

“Youma!” Luna gasped.

“Yo-what now?”

Luna looked up at her, eyes wide. “Usagi, I know now… I know why we found each other!”

“Huh?”

“You’re the legendary guardian, Sailor Moon!”

“I’m going to pretend I understood what you just said and also tell you that I’m most definitely not. I couldn’t guard anything. Look at me, I can’t walk in heels, I failed my quiz today, and despite having three cakes after dinner and being practically locked in a dark scary room with scary ghosts I’m kind of hungry!” Usagi froze. The shadow figure up ahead had shifted its attention from tuxedo-guy to tuxedo-gal, namely her. “What I’m saying is, all I wanna do right now is go home. Like, _right_ now.”

Luna backflipped, scattering glitter across the floor that came together and formed a small round brooch inlaid with four gems around the edge and a smooth upward facing crescent moon in the center. Usagi’s hand was instinctively drawn to it; it was warm to the touch and fit perfectly in her palm.

“Hold that in the air and say, ‘Moon Prism Power, Make Up!’” Luna shouted.

The words came so naturally it was as if she’d always known them…

“ _Moon Prism Power, Make Up!_ ”

Light surrounded her, much as it had when she used to disguise pen, but brighter, wilder. It spun her around in a whirl and when she came out of it, she gasped involuntarily. She didn’t know what she looked like, but there was awe on the face of the tuxedo-mask thief. Usagi could see him clearer now, the darkness seemed lighter. She _felt_ lighter.

“Sailor Moon,” Luna cried out, making a hard transition to her brand-new pseudonym, “you have to defeat that youma!”

“I have to…” Usagi trailed off, still not quite aware of what was going on. But as soon as the words registered she opened her eyes wide and shook her head. “Are you kidding me? Nuh-uh, we are getting the heck out of here.”

She dashed forward, kicking gems across the floor as she went, and threw her shoulder into the shadow figure as hard as she could. It gave with relative ease, taking several steps backwards further into the shop. She could probably see it clearly this close-up, but she sure as hell didn’t want to. Instead she grabbed tuxedo-guy by the hand and with a quick, “Come with me,” she set off running for the stairs with him in tow.

At the top of the first set of stairs, she did take the time to glance to the side and sure enough, it wasn’t a ghost she saw before, it was a man. He stood with his shoulders back, hands folded behind him, and only just barely turned his head to look at her. He wore a deep blue, vaguely military-looking uniform with high polished boots, and had thick, wavy blond hair that curled around his ears. There was a hard line to his mouth that made her think he probably wasn’t a nice man.

Scary shadow thing and scary mystery man in a dark and scary midnight department store? Usagi was so out of there.

 

Her lungs were burning as they burst out onto the roof. The light of the moon washed over them as they caught their breath, both wondering if they had been followed and if it was safe to stay there.

Sirens sounded in the distance, and they were growing closer. Definitely wasn’t safe. There must have been a silent alarm in the case that got broken.

The tuxedoed jewel thief turned to Usagi and pressed the back of her hand to his lips. “I owe you one, little cosplayer.” For a beat, he searched her eyes while she searched for a response, then he was gone.

“We should get out of here too,” Luna advised urgently.

 

“That was crazy,” Usagi declared out of nowhere, once they had left the shopping district and were back in her neighborhood where it felt safer. “Like, really crazy! Let’s not do that again.”

“Usagi, it’s your destiny. You have a mission to protect the Earth from evil,” Luna explained with strained patience.

“Says who?!”

Luna didn’t have an immediate answer.

“Nuh-uh, no way. We are never never never ever ever ever ever-never, never-ever doing that again. I am done, all the cool costumes and magic items in the world could never convince me to…”

She’d talked all the way into the yard and during the single bound it mysteriously took her to get back to the second floor. It was only when she caught sight of herself coming through the window in the mirror that she trailed off out of wonder...

She looked like herself, but not like herself… like herself only better, or like she might have looked in a past life. Her hair, the blonde pigtails now pale like white gold and so long they almost trailed on the floor, moved gracefully as she crossed the room to put one white-gloved hand to the mirror just to be certain it was really her reflection she was seeing. There was a gold tiara on her forehead, an iridescent fuschia stone set in the center. The brooch Luna gave her sat on her chest, in the center of a bow of silk that was such a rich, dark, rosey pink it bordered on being red. Stepping back she observed the outfit that had replaced her tuxedo disguise; a sailor collar and pleated mini skirt in navy like the night sky, white opera gloves, and knee-high boots the same dark rose as the bows at her chest and the small of her back and the choker around her throat. There were gems this colour pinned to the buns that topped her pigtails, plus feathered white barrettes atop her head. It was a bit much, actually. But she looked amazing.

Luna hopped on the bed and looked at her through the mirror’s reflection. There was pride wavering in her eyes. “This is your destiny, Usagi.”

Usagi sat heavily on the bed. The events of that night played through her mind at what felt like 10x speed. It had been exciting, thrilling, all-new, and a little bit romantic… she absently passed her fingers over where he’d kissed her hand...

But it had also been very, very scary. When all was said and done she was overwhelmed by the fear; the prickly chill that crawled like multiple little spiders up her back at just the memory of that shadowy form in the darkness.

“I don't want it.”

“What?”

Usagi wrapped her fingers around the magic brooch and willed herself back to normal. With no more ribbon to attach to, it dropped into her quivering hand. “I don't want it,” she said again. She busied herself with taking out her hair and changing into pajamas while Luna sputtered in search of what to say.

“Destiny? Protect the Earth from evil? Me? That's crazy, find someone else. I don't want it.” She pulled back the bedcovers, forcing Luna to move, and got in with a huff. “Am I still dreaming? If I could remember that stupid word for gaining control over your dreams could I will myself awake?”

“Usagi--”

“Good night, Luna.” She pulled the duvet over her head with finality.

Luna waited to see if she'd reemerge. When it became clear that wasn't going to happen, she sighed. “The word you're looking for is ‘lucid’ dreaming.”

This was met with silence, during which Luna curled up and settled in what felt like was behind Usagi’s knees to sleep, until finally Usagi’s voice rose, muffled and forlorn from beneath the duvet.

“You’re a pretty smart kitty.”


	3. Friends New and Old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Well, that happened."

“ _USAGI!_ ”

She was woken up abruptly after what felt like it had only been minutes, but the sun coming in the window told her was actually hours. Her mother was standing over the bed with her hands on her hips. “If you don’t get up now you’re going to be late for school again!” She ended the sentence on a weird rise in intonation, tilting her head to the side as something distracted her in the middle of the word ‘again’, “Is that a cat?”

Usagi sat up quickly, exchanging a look with Luna. “Uhhhhhh… yeah. She uh, came in the window last night.”

Her mother reached out and pet Luna on the head. “Well aren’t you pretty? I’ll ask around and see if anyone’s lost a cat, but if she’s a stray I guess we can keep her.”

Huh. Who knew her mother was such a cat person?

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Now get ready for school or I won’t leave you any breakfast. Hey, kitty, would you like some chicken? I think I have some leftover in the fridge.”

Luna mewed sweetly and hopped off the bed to follow her. At the door she shot a glance back at Usagi that seemed to say they would talk later.

Usagi didn’t want to talk; she quickly got ready so she could escape to school.

 

As it turned out, school wasn’t much of an escape. All anyone was talking about was the break-in at the fancy department store the previous night. Was it the tuxedo thief? Security footage from the area showed what looked like two people fleeing the scene. Did he have an accomplice now? Had he always had an accomplice? He still hadn’t actually stolen anything, so what was he after? Was it a marketing gimmick for the next Detective Conan movie?

Usagi sat with her chin on her folded arms and sleepily listened to the questions buzzing around the room. What _did_ he want, anyway? That was a good question. Could he also be looking for the Silver Moon Crystal that Luna had mentioned? But why?

Why was Luna looking for it?

Silver _Moon_ Crystal. _Moon_ Power-ed disguise. _Moon_ Prism Power. Sailor _Moon_.

Was she going to find out tuxedo-guy actually went by like, 'Tuxedo Moon' or something? Not that she was going to find out anything, because she wasn’t going to help Luna anymore. She shivered at the memory of the two other… beings in the department store...

“What do you think, Usagi?” Naru asked, unaware that her friend had long since stopped listening to their conversation.

“I think I need more sleep.”

 

The day dragged on but at least it was Friday and she had escaped the threat of detention, too. When the last bell rang, Usagi yawned her way out the gate with her friends.

“You seem more tired than usual today,” Naru observed.

“I had a late night.”

“Were you up playing games again?”

“Something like that.” Actually nothing like that, but she couldn’t very well tell her the truth. “Wanna go to the game center?”

“Sure!”

“Ooh yeah, I wanna try and get that new Honoka figure from the UFO catcher!” Yumiko agreed readily.

The girls turned down the covered street that marked the shopping district. Usagi was quiet, content to listen to her friends chat and distract herself. During the day the street was practically wall to wall people and full of noise. They passed the front of Naru’s mother’s shop and Usagi let her gaze pass over the jewelry on display in the window. Someone unfamiliar to her was just taking a wedding ring from the case to show a customer. Their eyes met through the window and Usagi’s footsteps slowed with the sudden powerful urge to go inside. At the same time, something about the woman’s thin face and wide, poppy-red smile rather gave her the creeps…

“Usagi?” Naru turned and called her name curiously. She walked back and followed Usagi’s gaze, bobbing her head with guarded politeness at the woman in the window. “That’s our new part-timer. She kind of gives me the creeps, but Mom says she makes a lot of sales.”

Usagi ‘hmm’ed absently and turned to go, running smack into another person who was not Naru or either of her other friends. “Ack!”

“Watch out!” Naru cried too late.

Usagi swayed on her feet, only for the sudden third person in their close proximity to catch her by the arms and steady her before she could fall. “Careful there, little dumpling-head.”

The sudden, unbidden nickname snapped her out of both her surprise and the fog she’d been in since passing the jewelry shop. “Who’re you calling dumpling-head?!”

Her nicknamer turned out to be a young man roughly a head taller than her, with black hair that fell into his eyes over trendy glasses. His blazer was from one of the private high schools in the area. He pushed his glasses up his nose and made a display of looking put out, “What else am I supposed to call you?”

“You don’t have to call me anything, I don’t even know you!” Usagi flapped her arms. “I’m sorry I bumped into you, okay?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Naru laughed, “I should have said something sooner.”

Usagi pushed Naru ahead of her and started down the street in a huff. “Never mind, let’s just go. I can’t even see Yumiko and Kuri anymore.”

They’d barely gone five steps before she got suspicious and looked over her shoulder. “Why are you following us?”

“I’m not following you,” the guy from outside the jewelry shop looked amused, “we just happen to be going in the same direction.”

Naru laughed again at her. “What are you so grumpy for? Do you need to stop at Starbucks?”

Maybe she was just tired and it was putting her in a bad mood. “I have no money,” she grumbled. Her eyes were grainy from lack of sleep and that creepy feeling from the jewelry shop part-timer wouldn’t stop nagging at her in the back of her mind. Hopefully seeing Motoki would improve her mood.

Sure enough, he was a ray of sunshine when the game center’s automated doors scooted open. He was standing by the UFO catcher machines talking Yumiko and Kuri, and looked up with a smile Usagi swore up and down was more dazzling than any idol’s. “Hi, girls, there you are. Oh, and hi, Mamoru.”

Usagi and Naru looked over their shoulders and sure enough, blazer-guy was still behind them. He raised a hand as he stepped around into the game center and said, “Hi, Motoki.”

Motoki looked between him and the girls. “You know each other?”

“No,” Usagi readily answered, still somewhat on edge.

Naru giggled. “We just ran into each other down the street.”

“Literally,” Mamoru added.

Motoki looked confused but didn’t ask what they meant. “Let me introduce you. Girls, this is my friend Mamoru, we went to the same elementary school and he recently moved back to this area. Mamoru, these are some regulars around here. You’ve already met Usagi and Naru, and this is Yumiko and Kuri.”

“Usagi?” Mamoru poked one of her buns, “So these are supposed to be stubby rabbit ears?”

“What? No!”

Her friends erupted into laughter. Stubby rabbit ears, and gleeful ponderings over whether they looked more like bear ears or mouse ears and if Usagi should change her name soon followed. Usagi turned on her heel and stalked towards the back of the room. “I’m going to look at the rhythm games!”

Naru ran after her, “Usagi wait, I’m sorry. Here, I’ll lend you 100 yen for the Sailor V game...”

 

Tucked away in the back corner of the game center, past the UFO catchers, slot games, air hockey table, and behind the idol card games were the rhythm games. The usual games were there, but what Usagi and Naru went straight for was the big, brightly lit one at the far end. It was one of the newer AR ones that required full-body moves read by a motion-capture camera. The main character of the game was the popular virtual youtuber, utaite, and internet personality who went by the moniker “Sailor V”. No one knew her true face, only her avatar; a cheerful girl with long blonde hair in a sailor uniform and a masquerade mask.

Luckily no one else was playing at the moment, so Naru handed Usagi a 100 yen coin as promised, and she began scrolling through the songs marked as ‘level 2’.

“There’s this one move I just can’t seem to get the timing right…”

To demonstrate she hopped up to land with her feet far apart, twisting so her right arm crossed in front of her, then swung the arm back in an arc.

“Looks like throwing a frisbee,” Naru observed.

“Kind of, yeah.” Usagi swung her arm with the force to spin herself around. She meant to just do one turn but it ended up being closer to 1.25 as she struggled to keep her balance. “See what I mean?”

“Aw, you can do it Usagi. Try again.”

 

Roughly an hour later, when Yumiko and Kuri left to head to their cram school lessons, Usagi and Naru also said their good-byes to Motoki and his friend Mamoru. Out in the street, they stopped outside the jewelry shop to chat a bit longer. Naru moved closer to Usagi and lowered her voice.

“I kind of don’t want to go in while she’s still here.”

“The part-timer?” When Naru nodded Usagi peered in again. “When did she start working for you?”

“About a week ago?” Naru scuffed her shoe against the sidewalk. She changed the subject, “That Mamoru guy was kind of cute.”

Usagi scoffed, already aware that people were going to be calling her assorted bear and mouse-related nicknames for days on end. “Definitely not cute.”

“Aw, come on. You must think he was at least a little good-looking?”

“My heart belongs to Motoki,” Usagi declared emphatically. But even as she said it, the person who crossed her mind was a little less Motoki and a little more mysterious tuxedo-wearing jewel thief-only-not.

Unaware of Usagi’s mental infidelity, Naru rolled her eyes and took her at face value. “Ah yes, how could I forget?”

Usagi heard her phone buzz inside her school bag and reached in to fish it out. “It’s Mom,” she said with a glance at the phone display. “Guess it’s dinner time.”

Naru sighed. “All right. See you Monday?”

Usagi bit her lip. She hated to see her friend unhappy. “Wanna hang out tomorrow? We can watch Sailor V’s new livestream together.”

Naru looked relieved. “Sure. I’ll message you when I wake up.”

“Cool. See you tomorrow.” Usagi watched Naru go through the door, then noticed the red-lipped part-timer watching her through the window. Usagi blinked in surprise. The other woman didn’t. blink. once.

Naru was right to think she was creepy. Usagi slowly backed away from the storefront, then turned and ran for home. She didn’t even notice the other person watching her from a few doors down.

Mamoru approached the jewelry shop in Usagi’s wake, careful to stay on the other side of the street. By the time he reached the window the woman had gone back to work and was no longer at the window. The shop looked small, and seemed unlikely to have it… but maybe it was worth checking out…

 

Once home, it became an unending game of hide and seek with Luna to which there was no way Usagi could win but she was certainly going to try. She even did her homework to get out of having to talk about the whole Sailor Moon fights evil by moonlight thing. She did sometimes think about Tuxedo-guy though. It would be nice to meet him again...

 

Naru messaged the next morning when it was close to noon and Usagi was just contemplating getting out of bed. Luna was nowhere to be seen, thankfully.

Usagi rolled out from under the duvet and crawled to the closet. She grabbed some comfortable overall shorts and a t-shirt, plus some thigh-high socks and a denim jacket. She yawned all the way through doing her hair, stuffed her phone in her back pocket, and plodded downstairs.

“Mooom? I’m gonna go to Naru’s for the afternoon, that okay?”

“Have you done your homework?”

“Uh… yeah, actually. I have.” She should avoid talking to Luna more often. “Is there lunch?”

“In the kitchen.”

Lunch was egg salad sandwiches and some cut fruit. Usagi poked around to see if any mini cakes were left but found there were none. Shingo must have beaten her to the rest. Instead she grabbed a cookie from the box in the cupboard and held it in her mouth as she laced up her sneakers. “I’m heading out now!”

Her mother appeared at the end of the hall with a laundry basket on her hip. “Be back in time for dinner.”

“Will do!”

“And say hello to Mayumi for me!”

“Okay~!” Usagi shut the door and stopped short. Luna was curled up in the sunlight on the wall circling the yard with one eye cracked open, her tail twitching back and forth. They eyed each other warily as Usagi approached the gate.

In the end there was no confrontation this time. All Luna said was a quiet, “Be careful out there,” when Usagi closed the gate after herself.

“I’m only going to Naru’s.”

“Even so.”

Usagi shot her a skeptical look over her shoulder before walking briskly away. It was almost too warm for the denim jacket already. She slouched it down off one shoulder and took a selfie with the cookie in her mouth for Instagram at the stoplight, taking the rest of the walk to Naru’s to choose the best filter and settings.

She went through the shop door and waved hello to Naru’s mother, “Hi, Mayumi. I’m here to hang out with Naru. Mom says hi!”

Mayumi turned from where she was working at the laptop behind the register, looking glamorous as always. While Usagi was for the most part happy with her long, silky blonde hair, she had always been a little jealous of the glossy ginger curls Naru and her mother shared.

“Come on in, Usagi,” Mayumi greeted her warmly in her lingering Kansai accent, “Naru’s just upstairs. Help yourself to some snacks. I’ll probably be out when you leave, but tell Ikuko I said hi back.”

“Will do!”

Just as Usagi was about to go to the stairs, the bell above the door jangled as it let someone in behind her and she turned out of curiosity.

It was the part-timer that gave Naru the creeps. Again today she was wearing the striking poppy-red lipstick. It matched her vintage red blazer and pencil skirt ensemble. On another lady it would have looked retro and cool, but Naru had a point, something about this woman just seemed… off.

“Can I help you?” she asked Usagi, the words coming out in a way that sounded rehearsed and not at all sincere. Why did Mayumi hire this woman?

“N-No, thank you.” Usagi glanced at Mayumi and found that, strangely, she had turned to the computer as if the part-timer and Usagi weren’t even there. “I’llbeupstairs!” Usagi ran noisily up the stairs and kicked off her shoes haphazardly in the entrance to the third-floor living quarters. “Naruuu?”

“In here!” Naru called from her room.

Usagi ran in and collapsed on the floor to catch her breath. “You weren’t kidding about that part-timer!”

Naru tossed the manga she’d been reading aside and slid off the bed to sit with Usagi on the floor. “Right?! She makes my skin crawl. I have no idea why Mom hired her!” Naru shivered. “But enough about her. What time is V’s livestream?”

“At four!” Usagi perked up. “I hope she releases a new song!”

“I keep hoping she’ll do a face-reveal!”

“No way, the mystery is part of her appeal!”

“I bet she’s just as pretty in real life, though.”

“You never know...” Usagi flopped over and reached for Naru’s box of video game stuff. “She might be a totally normal girl like us.”

The two of them spent the afternoon playing games, reading manga, and watching videos on the internet. When it was almost time for the livestream, they realized they had run out of drinks and decided to run to the convenience store for sodas.

“Oops, I forgot my wallet,” Naru turned around and ran back up, calling down to Usagi, “Wait there, I’ll be right back.”

Usagi meandered over to the nearest display case as she waited, peering inside at the ruby and garnet jewelry on display.

“Can I interest you in something?”

Usagi straightened up so quickly she almost swayed on her feet. The creepy part-timer was standing directly before her, a professional smile painted on her face. She held out a jewelry case to Usagi, displaying the shimmering pink polished stone on a thin, gold chain inside. “This seems to speak to you, a rare pink moonstone.”

Usagi’s heart stopped. She forced herself to look up and meet the part-timer’s unblinking stare. Moonstone?

“Since you’re a friend of the owner’s daughter, you can have a special discount, 90% off.”

Usagi’s mouth went dry. That was far too generous, and therefore all the more suspicious. Yet, she still felt a powerful urge to take the strange woman up on her offer. She was distantly aware that, if she had the money, she would hand it over. The gem was pretty, even without the weird and disconcerting fact that it was a pink moonstone… A 90% discount just for being Naru’s friend? That didn’t seem right.

Naru came down the stairs and squinted at the part-timer suspiciously. “Don’t bother my friend. Come on, Usagi, let’s go.”

Out in the street, Usagi told Naru about the offer of a huge discount and Naru frowned harder. “I’ll have to talk to Mom later. For now let’s just buy our drinks and forget about that creepy woman.”

“Right.” Usagi turned to follow her in the direction of the convenience store and spotted Luna standing among the bicycles parked across the street. They shared a long look that filled Usagi with indeterminate dread. Still, she staunchly chose to avoid reality and put everything but the promise of soda and her favorite youtuber out of her mind.

 

It only lasted until she got home later in the evening.

 

“Usagi, we have to talk.”

“Dinner!”

“Usagi, we really need to talk.”

“Gonna watch TV with Mom.”

“Usagi, can we please--”

“Bath!”

“Usagi…”

“Snack!”

“Usagi…”

“Can’t talk, gaming.”

“Usagi…”

“Man, I’m really tired for _some reason_ , think I’ll go to bed.”

“Usagi!!” Luna pointedly leapt onto the bed to prevent her from turning down the duvet. “You can’t avoid talking to me forever.”

“I can try.”

Luna sighed. “Look, I realize it was a lot to take in all at once, and I wish I could have explained things better to you, but…”

“I don’t want to do anything scary, Luna.”

“But it’s your destiny… Not just anyone could transform with that brooch, it was meant for you!”

“Says who?” Usagi shot back.

Luna’s ears flattened against her head and she murmured, “Well, uh…”

“Look, I get it, Sailor ‘Moon’ right? You translate my name to English and it sounds like a joke. I’m the rabbit in the moon, ha ha ha, like I haven’t heard that before. I’m cool with it. Bunnies are cute. I’m cute. You’re a cute kitty and you have a home here now, apparently. Yay. What’s not cute is big scary shadow monster things in the dead of the night or creepy uniformed dudes who may or may not be ghosts! Get it?” Luna didn’t have an immediate response so Usagi force-quit the conversation. “Good. Bed. I could sleep for a week.”

Luna didn’t look like she considered the matter settled, but she moved out of the way anyway.

However Usagi’s hand had barely reached for the duvet when her phone buzzed and she diverted course to pick it up. It was Naru.

“Usagi?” Naru’s voice sounded small, fearful. “Mom’s still out, she called and said she was going to dinner with friends. Then just now, when I got out of the bath, I thought I heard her come home. So I went downstairs to see how her night was but it wasn’t her it was that creepy part-timer. She was just standing in the middle of the shop in the dark.”

Usagi’s skin crawled just hearing about it over the phone. “Maybe she forgot something?”

“That’s what I asked her, and I swear to you, her head turned all the way around to stare at me.”

“It what?!”

“All the way around, like in a horror movie. She’s not human! Usagi, I’m scared.” Naru sounded near tears.

“Hold on, I’ll get dressed and come over there. Mom’ll understand.”

“Can you stay on the line?”

“Sure.”

Luna’s ear twitched as Usagi set the phone down and began pulling clothes to change into from the closet. Once Usagi had changed and left the room, she hopped down off the bed and followed. Something told her she should go as well.

“Mooommm…” Usagi dragged the word out as she descended the stairs. She found her parents sitting watching television in the living room. “Naru’s home alone and feeling scared, I’m gonna go keep her company, is that okay?” It wouldn’t be the first time. Naru’s parents had gotten divorced when she was in third grade, and there had been many sleepovers over the years when she’d been afraid to be by herself.

Usagi’s mother looked at her watch. “It’s pretty late. Are you going to sleep over?”

“I… might?” She put the phone to her ear. “Naru, do you want me to stay over?”

“Maybe? I can lend you some pajamas.”

Usagi relayed this and got permission to go. “I’m on my way!” At the door she realized Luna was following her and paused, quickly realizing why that might be. She sighed and covered the mic on her phone with her hand before whispering, “Go get it and meet me outside, just in case. The window should still be open.”

Luna turned and bounded up the stairs.

Usagi put on her sneakers and shouted to her parents that she was going now as she went out the door. Luna leapt down onto her shoulder and dropped the transformation brooch into her hand. Usagi sighed. She’d said ‘just in case’ but 110% hoped against hope that ‘case’ wouldn’t end up being the… case. Anyway, Naru was waiting for her.

Usagi jogged down the street, passing only a few straggling salarymen on their way back from weekend work and a couple high school students. The covered shopping district street was quiet; most of the shops had long-since closed for the night. The bustling noise of the day had been replaced by the muffled voices and faint clinking of glasses coming from the pubs and bars nearby. Naru’s family shop came into view and Usagi slowed to a walk, creeping up to the front window and peeking inside.

The shop appeared to be empty. No sign of any people, creepy part-timers or otherwise.

“Naru,” she hissed into the phone, “the store looks empty.”

“What?” Naru squeaked. “I didn’t hear the door I don’t think.”

Usagi made a face. “Uh-oh… Okay, I’m coming in.” Surprisingly, the door didn’t budge when she pulled on it. “It’s locked!”

“Oh noo…” Naru moaned. “She must have locked it after her.” Whether she meant her mother or the creepy intruder it was hard to tell. “I’m too scared to go down and unlock it for you.”

Luna put a paw on her cheek and that was all it took for Usagi to get the message. “Do you have a window open?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Just trust me.” Usagi shuffled over to where Luna could climb the waterspout and put out her arm to give her easier access to it. 

The cat scurried up and out the opening to let the waterspout through the roof over the street. Once on the building’s overhang leading to the third floor, she spied the open window and headed for it, pausing only when a shadow crossed the moonlight. Luna stopped short, her tail straight up in the air like an antenna. Her whiskers quivered as she cast a glance around, but saw no one up on the rooftops other than her. Still suspicious, she skulked low to to the roof tiles and quickly crossed to the window, slipping in and dropping, soundless, to the floor. She was in a little kitchenette, with the stairs to the lower floors visible on her left. Luna scurried straight down, keeping an eye out for this mysterious ‘creepy’ woman Usagi had described. The second floor looked to be for storage and an office space. It appeared empty. One more floor down and she was in the shop area; still empty. There was an office chair on wheels behind one of the glass cases. She headbutted it carefully around onto the main floor and across to the door, then hopped on and pawed at the lock until the latch clicked over.

Usagi opened the door and peered around cautiously. In the phone she said quietly, “I’m in, Naru. I’ll meet you upstairs.” She ended the call and closed the door behind her. “You know, Luna, you really are awful smart for a kitty cat.”

“Why, thank you.” She didn’t sound like she took it as a compliment. “I didn’t see anyone as I was coming down.”

“For real? Maybe creepy lady really did leave.” Usagi squinted into the darkness.

“I don’t know,” Luna’s ears were flattened back against her head. “Do you feel that, Usagi?”

“Shh, don’t ask me that. I’m just here to keep my best friend company.” This was all Luna needed to hear to know that Usagi did feel the heavy gloom in the air. “Just out of curiosity,” Usagi did a bad job at feigning being casual on the way to the staircase, “do you think any of these gems in here are the Silver Moon Crystal?”

Luna shook her head. “I would be drawn to it the same way I was drawn to you. There’s nothing here.”

Suddenly, from the deepest shadows in the backmost corner of the store, a gravelly voice slithered out of the dark. “Silverrr Moon Crystalll…?”

Usagi froze, one foot on the stair. Luna arched her back and hissed, somehow making the most cat-like action she’d made in the whole, albeit short, time Usagi had known her.

Somehow it was the red of her lips that came into view first; the colour practically leapt from the darkness. The woman, or rather, to put it more correctly, the ‘youma’ as Luna had called her, had sallow, almost grey skin and her face and limbs were just too-long enough to be uncanny. She approached with a gangly, spider crab-like gait. “Wherrre is the Silverrr Moon Crystalll?”

Usagi meant to say she didn’t know, but it came out as an incoherent whimper.

“Usagi, you have to transform,” Luna hissed.

“No way.”

“Yes!”

“Then what?!”

“You have to fight the youma!”

“Are you crazy?!”

Taking her eyes off the monster approaching them to look at Luna incredulously was the wrong thing to do. The youma backhanded her across the face, and stars exploded before her eyes with the pain. Usagi was knocked away from the stairs to skid all the way across the room. She collided with the chair she and Luna had left by the door and it made a great noise as it crashed into the wall. Distantly she heard Naru call her name from upstairs, but was in too much shock to call back. That... that really, really hurt!

The youma scuttled over and stood over her, looking even more inhuman from this angle. The bright red lipstick against her grey skin made her mouth look bigger, almost animalistic. “Wherrre is the Crystalll?”

Usagi squeaked. Again she’d lost the ability to form words.

“Usagi!” Luna wailed. She bounded across the room and climbed youma’s clothes to begin clawing at her face. The youma emitted an enraged cry of pain and on the second try managed to grab Luna and fling her across the room. She hit one of the display cases with a crack and dropped limply to the floor.

“Luna!” Usagi cried. The transformation brooch was warm in her pocket. Scaring and hitting her was one thing but throwing a poor kitty across the room? That kitty was her friend!

“ _Moon Prism Power! Make Up!_ ”

If it was a fight the youma wanted, fine, it was a fight she’d get, but first Usagi had to get her away from Luna and Naru. Usagi wrenched the door open and dashed out into the street. She skid to a stop right in the middle and turned back to see the youma emerge from the door. Out in the lights, she didn’t look any less creepy but Usagi felt braver anyway. A little. Marginally. Maybe not really but it was easier to lie to herself out here.

Anyway, now what?

The youma growled the word, “Crystalll…” and thrust forward, moving faster than she had in the store to grab Usagi by both shoulders and knock her over onto her back. Usagi flailed underneath her, kicking and pushing until she escaped her grasp and half back-somersaulted, half-rolled up onto her knees. The youma lunged for her and she leaped out of the way. But this seemed to have been anticipated, because the youma stepped off the ground, grabbed her mid-jump, and together they crashed through the roof up into the air.

Usagi shrieked with pain. She put her boot to the youma’s stomach and pushed off, landing on her back on the roof of the shopping street so hard she heard the wood crack beneath her.

The youma landed on the other side of the hole they’d formed. Something about the way she stood clicked in Usagi’s mind.

“You were in the department store last night!”

A rattling laugh dripped from the youma’s mouth. “Wherrre’s yourrr friend?”

Usagi tried to come up with a witty retort but her mouth was dry. She’d brought the brooch ‘just in case’ and the situation certainly warranted using it because… because… her friends were in danger and she wanted to protect them. She and Naru had been friends since before she could remember, and Luna… Luna was an intelligent little cat who seemed to have infinite patience despite the fact that Usagi had been rather rude to her at times over the past day and she wanted to get to know her better. Anyway, she’d lost track of the point she was trying to make to herself, and anyway that wasn’t the friend the monster across the way was insinuating. The youma was asking about masked tuxedo not-actually-a-jewel-thief guy.

Holy crap.

Was she really going to find out his name was Tuxedo M--

Her already out-of-control train of thought got thoroughly derailed as the youma lunged at her. Usagi tried to dodge but it was too late, and the youma’s long boney fingers curled around her neck. This was it, she was going to die. Her life tragically cut short in the prime of her youth. What would the news reports say? How long would it take to find her body if she died up here? At least the moon looked pretty…

Suddenly the youma shrieked as if in pain and jerked backwards. It was unfortunately not enough for her to let go, but it prevented her from knocking Usagi off her feet. Usagi struggled hazily to see what had happened, noticing that there was a fresh scratch from her cheekbone over her nose and downward across her face and single-stem red rose stuck upright in the roof next to them.

That was weird.

Where did that come from?

Seeming to drop out of the moonlight itself, the tuxedoed jewel thief entered her field of vision. He ducked under the youma’s arm to deliver a swift punch to her midriff that knocked the air out of her and caused her grip on Usagi’s throat to finally come free. His arm caught Usagi around the small of her back, lifting her up and taking her with him to put distance between them and the monster. Usagi rested her head on his chest while she caught her breath, finally looking up and being struck by the sight of him up close, face framed in the large, luminously full moon behind him.

“Thank you… Wh-Who are you?” she asked, “What do I call you?”

He parted his lips as if to answer, but none immediately presented itself. Usagi was utterly drawn to those lips, just barely keeping herself from leaning forward to meet them. Her heart was beating so fast the whole world around them had disappeared.

Except for Luna, who hopped painfully down from the third-floor window of Naru’s house. “Sailor Moon…!”

And wouldn’t you know it, she broke the spell that had fallen over them.

Her rescuer cleared his throat and blushed a little. “Just call me… uh… Tuxedo… Mask.”

Oh wow…  
It was so lame but sounded so cool. Is this what true love felt like?

The youma by this time had recovered and rushed to attack them again. Tuxedo Mask pulled Usagi close and leapt out of the way, conveniently putting them closer to Luna.

“What is that thing?” he asked.

“It’s a… uh, youma,” Usagi answered with a quick glance at Luna.

“How do we defeat it?”

“Good question…” Another glance down at Luna.

Luna was barely standing, still hurt from being thrown across the room downstairs. “You can use your tiara for a magic attack.”

“Your cat can talk?”

“Let’s save that conversation for later.” Usagi pulled the tiara from her forehead and it turned to a shimmering golden disc hovering over her outstretched palm. Okay this was pretty cool, she didn’t even have to ask for the words. “I got this.”

Usagi stepped away from Tuxedo Mask and wound up, taking a wide stance and crossing her arm over her chest. It was a motion similar to one she’d already practiced a lot that day by coincidence... “ _Moon… Tiara… Action!_ ” She sent the disc flying, frisbee-like, and it sailed through the air with what she knew was magically-aided accuracy because she never would have achieved it otherwise. The tiara connected with the youma mid-attack, catching her in the middle and neatly slicing her in two. The two halves dissolved to dust in the wind as Usagi, Luna, and Tuxedo Mask watched on.

Usagi neatly caught the tiara as it boomeranged back to her and replaced it on her forehead. She had to say something to break the silence, and kicked herself when all she came up with was, “Well, that happened.”

Tuxedo Mask laughed. “You’re something else.”

Usagi blushed at the compliment.

He turned to her and bowed with a flourish. “May we meet again, soon… Sailor Moon.”

“Wait,” she called after him. “I have more questions!”

“Maybe next time!”

And then he was gone, leaving her alone on the rooftops with just Luna and the moon. For a long moment neither guardian nor cat said anything. Again, Usagi was the first to break the silence.

“Hey, Luna…”

“Yes?”

“There’s no getting out of this now, is there?”

Luna’s silence was answer enough. Usagi wasn’t sure how she felt about it in the end.

“Usagi?” Naru’s voice could be heard calling for her inside the house. “What’s going on? Is everything alright?” She came to the window before Usagi had time to hide, and gasped at the sight of Sailor Moon standing out under the night sky. “Who are you?”

Usagi blinked in surprise, momentarily forgetting that she looked different when she used the brooch, then smiled and struck a pose. Sure, the fighting and youma part was scary and she did not in any way feel like she could handle it, but she looked amazing, could use magic, and had a potential future meeting with a hot guy in a tuxedo. Might as well go with it. “I’m the guardian of love and justice, Sailor Moon!”

 

“She really said that?!”

When Usagi arrived at school on Monday, all anyone was talking about was what had happened at Naru’s shop Saturday night. Her classmates were crowded around Naru’s desk asking her to go over the details all over again.

Yumiko spotted Usagi come in and called out to her, “Hey, Usagi, did you see Sailor Moon?”

“No,” Usagi set her bag on her desk and went with the same cover story she gave Naru, “I grabbed Mayumi’s baseball bat from the second floor office and chased the creepy lady out.”

Naru nodded. “I heard the crashing and yelling.”

“You chased her out with a baseball bat? Geez, remind me to never get on your bad side.”

“No one messes with my friends!” Usagi flexed jokingly.

Her phone buzzed in her bag, so she left her classmates to keep talking, checked quickly to make sure the teacher wasn’t coming, and slipped it out to simultaneously put it on silent mode and see what the notification was.

_Instagram  
seravchan1022 liked your photo._

Whoa.  
 _The_ Sailor V liked her selfie from Saturday?

Usagi put her phone in the bag and got her books out for class with a smile on her face. Okay, she had to admit... life was pretty good.

 

The slightest sounds echoed for what felt like hours off the vaulted ceilings, bouncing and multiplying on each other, making it both impossible to sneak in, but also hard to read if and from what direction someone was coming towards you. The shadows on either side were deep and full of whispers. Watchful eyes leered just on the edges of his peripheral vision all the way to the throne room.

“Come to report, Jadeite?” a silky voice greeted him from all the way at the opposite end of the room.

Jadeite dropped to one knee and put a balled up fist to his chest. “There’s been a new development, your majesty.”

“Oh?” There was danger laced with interest in her voice. “You may approach.”

Jadeite crossed the room, stopping just when Queen Beryl came into view. She sat upon her throne on the dais, lounging back and tapping her long red talons on the arm as she waited. Her long, wavy crimson hair draped across her shoulders, over the sides of the chair and down her lap to curl against the floor.

Jadeite stopped short and dropped to one knee again. “My queen…” He waited for her to wave a hand at him for permission to stand and speak. “We have encountered a curious person during the search for the Silver Moon Crystal.”

“Aside from the one in a tuxedo?”

“Yes, though I’m afraid I can’t say if they are accomplices or not at this time.”

“Tell me about this new person. Are they also searching for the Crystal?”

“It would appear so. She is a young girl; she seems to be in her teens. She possesses enough strong magical power to hold her own against a low-level youma.”

Queen Beryl narrowed her eyes. “What does she look like?”

“She’s not very tall, dressed in a blue and red sailor uniform, with very long platinum blonde hair worn in pigtails. She calls herself ‘Sailor Moon’.” Jadeite gave the news plainly, and was surprised when Beryl sat forward abruptly and the air in the room turned positively frigid.

“Next time you encounter that girl,” she spat with venom in her voice, “kill her on sight.”

“Yes, my queen.” Jadeite bowed. “Your wish is my command.”


	4. On the Same Wavelength

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The radio episode of the original anime was always one of my favorites...

“Take your umbrella, it’s supposed to rain today,” Ikuko called from the kitchen as Usagi was putting her shoes on.

Usagi made a face. “Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” her mother emerged into the hall, wiping her hands on a dishtowel to see her off. “It is almost the rainy season, after all. Make sure you come home straight after school today, no stopping at the game center or Naru’s place, alright? You need to study for your tests.”

Usagi made another face. This day certainly was off to a bad start. “Aw, come on…”

“No, I mean it. You need to stop staying up so late, too. It’s been even harder than normal to wake you up in the morning this past month or so.”

Usagi grabbed her umbrella from the stand by the door, thankful this put her back to her mother so she didn’t see her roll her eyes. “Fiiine,” she huffed. “See you after school.”

“Have a good day.”

Usagi closed the door behind her and peeked up at the sky, which was indeed laden heavily with thick grey clouds. Have a good day? She wasn’t about to bet on it.

On the way to school, she yawned enough to bring tears to the corners of her eyes. It wasn’t her fault she was so tired, she’d been helping Luna search for the Silver Moon Crystal nearly every night on top of the studying and/or procrastinating on said studying. Not that she could mention two out of three of these excuses to her mother. Searching for the Crystal so far had been fruitless, which only stood to reason since all they had to go on was Luna’s hazy intuition. On more than one occasion they’d sensed youma close by but Usagi steadfastly chose the ‘run away’ option each encounter. She’d only promised to help Luna look for the Silver Moon Crystal, that was it. What did the youma want? Where were they coming from? Every time the questions rose to her mind she aggressively stuffed them back down. The moment she asked she knew she’d feel obligated to follow through on whatever the answer was. She was just one girl, evil could be fought by other, more capable people like All Might or, Usagi’s personal favorite, Todoroki.♡

There was a squeak as someone stopped next to her at a traffic light on their bike and greeted her with, “Hey, Little Dumpling.”

As if her morning could get any worse.

She graced Mamoru with the most unimpressed look she could muster this early in the morning. “Could you not?”

“What?” he grinned at her infuriatingly. Usagi hated being nicknamed and he knew it by now.

“My name is Usagi,” she reminded him for not the first time. The light changed and she stalked across the street.

He had the nerve to keep pace with her. “What’s got you in such a bad mood?”

“Someone calling me a type of food might have something to do with it.”

He let the bike coast next to her, spinning the pedals backwards as he looked skyward and pondered this. “If you hate ‘Dumpling’ so much then how about ‘Bun’?”

Usagi stopped short and turned on him.

“Actually that’s perfect for you,” he proclaimed, antagonizing her further. “It’s a little foodstuff, could be short for ‘bunny’, and it goes with your hair-do!”

“Why can’t you just call me by my name?!” Usagi flapped her arms at him. The sure-to-be-ensuing rant was cut short when the first raindrop hit her square on the nose. “Oh, great.” She opened her umbrella and pointedly did not offer to hold it over Mamoru while he fumbled to get his collapsible umbrella out of his schoolbag.

“Usagi~!” Naru called, running up to meet them. “Oh, good morning, Mamoru.”

“Good morning, Naruru.”

Naru didn’t mind being nicknamed. Probably because hers at least _sounded_ like her own name.

“What’d you think of V’s new song?” Naru asked.

Usagi nearly dropped her umbrella. “V released a new song?!”

“You missed it? You, of all people?”

“I was busy!” Usagi wailed, fumbling for her phone.

“Doing what?” Naru laughed at her.

Usagi muttered a vague response about ‘stuff’ and put in her earphones to listen.

Mamoru looked at Naru curiously. “V?”

“Sailor V, she’s like an internet personality,” Naru helpfully explained. “She just put up a new cover of a song. Usually Usagi’s the first person to tell me about it.”

As if on cue, Usagi squealed and turned to Naru. “It’s sooo gooood…!”

“Right?!” Naru clasped her hands over Usagi’s and the two girls hopped on the spot in joy. It was kind of awkward since they both had their umbrellas and at one point Usagi’s smacked her in the face, but they didn’t care.

Mamoru watched them curiously, then reached out and pulled one of Usagi’s earphone from her ear to put into his own with a, “Let me listen.”

Usagi squawked in surprise. He was way too close it almost made her blush. Blushing over Mamoru? Gross! She pulled the other earphone out and practically threw it at him. “Do you mind? Ugh, here.”

When he had both earphones in and couldn’t hear her, Naru leaned closer to Usagi and said with a smile, “I think he likes you.”

“Ew? Don’t make me barf.”

Naru giggled wickedly. Before she could say anything further, though, Mamoru removed the earphones to hand them back to Usagi.

“Not bad. Not really my thing, but not bad.”

Not bad? How dare he! Usagi turned up her nose at him. “No one even asked you.” Luckily they were at the intersection where the routes to their schools split. “Let’s listen one more time before we reach the gate, Naru.”

“Sure. Bye, Mamoru!”

“See you later Naruru, Bun.” Mamoru waved and kicked off, pedalling up the hill towards his high school.

“It’s Usagi, you jerk!”

“I think ‘Bun’ is a cute nickname.”

“Don’t even,” Usagi grumbled, intent on putting all thoughts of the vile nicknamer out of her mind and focusing on Sailor V’s new song instead.

“Since you didn’t see the song was uploaded, you also missed that she’s gonna make a big announcement tonight, huh?” Naru asked when the song was over and it was time to put the phone away before any teachers saw it.

“Yeah, what time?”

“At nine.”

Oh good, it was early enough she should be able to listen before going out with Luna.

 

“Good evening all you lovely people!” Sailor V’s energetic voice came through the speakers at just past nine that evening. “Looks like the rainy season is almost here, I hope none of you got caught in the rain. Or maybe you got to share an umbrella with that special someone? If so… I’ll try to contain my jealousy. I’ve got no one to share an umbrella with me!”

Usagi watched the chat accompanying the livestream scroll blindingly with multiple offers to share an umbrella.

“But never mind my un-luck in love, did you listen to the new song?”

Usagi sat forward to type in, “yeeeeessss!” and hit send, her contribution soon lost in a flurry of scrolling comments..

“Wow, thank you all so much! So let’s get right to the big news. Yesterday’s new release, ‘Lovely Venus Dance’ made in collaboration with Vocaloid producer NayutanStar is going to hit the airwaves as the official theme song for FM AZJB’s new late-night program, ‘Love Request with DJ Jay’! Eeek my voice is going to be on national radio! Isn’t that cool?!”

Usagi had a notification from Naru and they began squee-ing back and forth over the news while Sailor V continued with the details of her announcement.

“The program will be a one hour request program with a different theme each week that you can listen to on the radio or over the internet! For the first episode, to commemorate the use of ‘Lovely Venus Dance’ and because I thrive on supporting everyone’s chances at true love, the theme will be ‘a song you want to send to that special someone’!”

A special someone? Usagi looked up to the ceiling dreamily.

Her phone buzzed with a message from Naru.

_Are you going to send a song to Mamoru?_

Usagi bristled. She started to type a response but Naru’s next message beat her.

_lol just kidding. I know you’re gonna send it to Motoki._

Usagi looked at her unfinished message for a long moment. In her flustered rush she’d typed in that _no_ , she was going to send a song to ‘Tux’...

Tux.

Tuxedo Mask.

She felt her temperature rise. They’d crossed paths a few times since the incident at Naru’s place but always fleeting, always barely exchanging a flirtatious word. Each time he’d been staggeringly attractive. She still had the rose he gave her a few nights ago in a glass of water on the windowsill.

Oh man, oh man. She had to tell someone.

But Luna had made her promise to keep the Sailor Moon thing a secret from Naru.

_Naru, I think I might have a crush on someone other than Motoki._

_omg, is it Mamoru? Was I right??_

_No, stop that! It’s…_ Usagi pondered how to reply, leaning back in her chair and listening to Sailor V talk about video games for a bit… _someone I met when I was chasing creepy lady out of your shop. I don’t know his name but I can’t stop thinking about him._

 _What’s he look like?_ Naru wanted to know.

Usagi drew her knees up to her chest and quickly typed out, _He’s tall, with dark hair, really nice blue eyes, and dresses really well._ She knew she was smiling like a fool but didn’t care.

The smile dropped the moment Naru replied with, _Sounds like Mamoru to me._

_Ugh. Naru, seriously. You’re the one who keeps bringing that jerk up, do YOU like him or something?_

_If I did..._

Usagi knew what was coming.

_...would you be jealous? :D_

_Shut up._

“Well, everyone, that’s it for today. Thanks for listening and remember to tune in for the first episode of Love Request next week! I’ll be looking forward to seeing what songs you send in! This has been your friendly neighbourhood goddess of love, Sailor V-chan. I love you all, and good night. Mwa!”

Usagi rolled off her chair and reached for her school bag to retrieve her homework before her mother came in to scold her. Her mind was full of things that were very much not homework-related though. What song could she request to send to Tuxedo Mask? Something to do with roses, maybe? What kind of music did he like, she wondered…

 

Over the next few days, Usagi’s schedule was full of studying for her midterms and searching for the Crystal and trying to find what precious little time for sleep she could. Just in time, she thought of a song that mentioned roses in the chorus and sent it in under a pseudonym she’d never used before so it wouldn’t be traced back to her. Would she be lucky enough for her song to be selected? She couldn’t wait to find out.

On the night of the radio broadcast, Luna sat licking her paw on the bed in distaste. “I can’t believe you did something so foolish.”

“No one’ll ever figure out it was me,” Usagi protested, sitting on her knees backwards on the chair with her chin on the backrest to amplify her pout. “If it even gets read.”

“I’m sorry Usagi, but I sincerely hope that it does not.”

Unfortunately for Luna, about 40 minutes into the hour-long program her hopes were dashed when the DJ moved on to the next request.

“Our next request comes from radio-name ‘LittleMoonchan’, for her secret crush she refers to as the mysterious ‘Kamen’. Her message is simply, ‘I still have the rose you gave me that night, and think of you often.’ Wow, how romantic! Let’s hope Mr. Kamen is listening. Here’s LittleMoonchan’s request--”

The title of the song was obscured from Luna’s ears as Usagi squealed and threw up her hands, slipping right off the chair to land hard on her butt. She curled up in pain but was still laughing with delight when Ikuko opened the door to shush her.

After Usagi’s requested song was over, there was time for commercials, then the DJ reviewed the program concept and talked for a bit before moving on to the last song of the episode, “This one comes from radio-name ‘Dreaming Haruna’ for a super secret someone she calls ‘Rainy Day Lost Lover’, who she says she has never forgotten and still wishes they could be together all these years later. Good luck, Dreaming Haruna! Both Sailor V and I are rooting for you…”

Usagi’s phone buzzed with a new message from Naru, _Dreaming Haruna as in… OUR Haruna?_

Usagi gasped. _OMG what if it is?_

_OMG!  
OMG!_

Speculations moved on to the group chat with Yumiko and Kuri and continued well into the night…

 

It was such a big deal that Usagi actually got up early and met her friends at school the next morning to lie in wait for their homeroom teacher. Sure enough, it turned out to be their very own Haruna-sensei who sent in the message. The girls broke out into peals of laughter and teased their teacher mercilessly, asking her all manner of questions about the ‘Rainy Day Lost Lover’ right up until first bell.

 

The next week, Usagi settled in to listen to the radio program again with repeated promises to Luna that no, she hadn’t sent in another message and yes, when it was over they could go out and search for any clues to the Silver Moon Crystal’s whereabouts.

The program started and Usagi sat up a little straighter. “Huh? The DJ’s different.”

Luna opened one eye where she’d curled up to wait patiently on the bed. “Is it supposed to be the same person each week?”

“That’s what it sounded like…” Usagi shrugged. “At least they’re still using V’s song.”

“You’re listening to FM AZJB with me, DJ Daito, and this is ‘Love Request’. The song just now was our very special opening theme provided by popular internet celebrity Sailor V. To start our program tonight we have a very special message.” There was no reference made to the change in DJs. “Believe it or not everyone, we have our very first response message. This is from radio-name Kamen for LittleMoonchan.”

“Huh?” Usagi choked in surprise.

Luna lifted her head off the bed, both eyes now open. “What?”

“The message reads, ‘I have something more romantic than a rose to give you. Meet me tonight at the department store.’ Isn’t that romantic everyone? Be sure to send in your messages and maybe you’ll find love as well. I hope that LittleMoonchan and Kamen are very happy together. The song Kamen requested was…”

Usagi hugged herself. “Lunaaa, this is all thanks to you! You are definitely invited to the wedding!”

Luna hopped up onto the desk and eyed the computer monitor suspiciously. “Usagi, it might be a trap.”

“Why would it be a trap? You don’t think Tuxedo Mask is actually an enemy still, do you?”

Luna shook her head. “The jury’s still out on the real Tuxedo Mask, I mean this might be a trap from the enemy-enemy.”

“The youma people?”

“Yes,” Luna said, her tone dry and only slightly sarcastic, which still sounded pretty sarcastic coming from a cat, “the ‘youma people’.”

“Why would they set a trap for me?”

Now Luna dropped all pretense and went full-on biting sarcasm. “Certainly not because you’re also looking for the Silver Moon Crystal or anything? I’m sure they’ve realized by now.”

Usagi sat back, skepticism clear on her face. “Nah…”

“The sudden change in DJs is also suspicious. If you don’t believe me, why don’t we go check out the radio station? This program is live, isn’t it?”

“Sure, but how would we get in there to check?”

“The disguise pen, of course.”

“Oh yeah!” Usagi had totally forgotten about it. She rummaged around in her desk drawer and found it. “Let’s go see what’s what, Luna!”

It was easier to get places with the increased athleticism being Sailor Moon gave her, so Usagi transformed and she and Luna raced to the radio station before the program could end. They arrived with 15 minutes left and Usagi took out the disguise pen. She’d thought all the way over on what to disguise herself as.

“ _Moon Power…!_ Turn me into a super cool trendy record producer!”

Usagi came out of the glittersplosion that ensued with a lightly permed short bob cut, perfect cat eye eyeliner, dark skinny jeans and a faded vintage band t-shirt with a black blazer over it and Doc Martin boots. She opened the big shoulder bag that had appeared to complete the ensemble for Luna to hop in and walked confidently into the radio station. She buzzed the intercom and introduced herself as the new representative for one of the major record labels come to greet the production staff - the disguise pen had even provided her with an official-looking ID - and she was allowed to take a visitor’s pass and go inside.

“Ooh,” she whispered to Luna as she peeked around a corner, “I wonder if there’s any famous people here…”

“Usagi, please focus on why we’re here. We have to find the broadcast studios.”

“I know that,” she hissed back. “Don’t be such a killjoy, Luna, geez.”

Usagi followed the signs to the broadcast studios and peered into each one as she passed. This area of the building was oddly empty. She’d always expected a radio station to be full of people. It wasn’t even that late, all things considered...

At the very end of the hall she finally came across other people. It took only a moment to confirm that this was the program she’d started listening to back at home so she took a second peek. There were only two people visible; a woman with her back to her, tall, with blunt-cut shoulder-length hair, a deep chestnut blazer, and a poppy red pencil skirt that hugged her thighs to end right above her knees, and a man in the sound booth reading into the microphone. The woman didn’t seem familiar at all, but the man tugged at the strings of Usagi’s memories. He had thick, wavy blond hair that fell heavily over his eyebrows and a hard line to his mouth that belied the friendly, warm tone of the voice heard over the radio. It took no time at all for Usagi to follow the string to a certain dark, shadowy staircase in the middle of the night...

“That’s…” Usagi gulped, “That’s the guy from the department store!” She realized too late she’d said this out loud and clamped both hands over her mouth.

The woman’s head snapped all the way around ( _all the way around!!_ ) to look directly at her. Usagi froze like a deer in headlights. Past the woman she could see the man’s mouth curve into a very not-nice smile.

“Well, that’s all the time we have, everyone,” he said into the mic, but his gaze and the true meaning behind words were directed clearly at Usagi. “Good night.” Her time was up. As soon as the ‘on-air’ sign had gone dim, the man stood and turned to the window. The broadcast was over so the audio feed from the sound booth to the main room had been cut, but his mouth clearly formed the words, “Get her,” and even though the woman still had her eyes trained on Usagi the message seemed to get through.

Usagi backpedalled all the way to bump into the opposite wall of the hallway and dropped the hand bag. Luna leaped to the ground before it hit. “You have to transform into Sailor Moon!”

“Not if I can run away first!” Usagi wailed and took off down the hall as fast as she could.

“Wait!!” Luna cried in exasperation and raced after her.

The creepy neck-turny woman was hot on their heels but oddly enough it was the man who scared Usagi more. She realized too late she’d run in the opposite direction of the entrance she’d come through in her panic and began to cast wildly about for an emergency exit. Finally she found one at the end of the hall and crashed through it with so much force she bruised her palms. Up or down? Up or down? What floor were they on again?

The woman, now with the longer limbs and pallid skin Usagi had come to recognize marked her as a youma, as if there was any question at this point, crashed into the doorframe and leered at her. “You’rrre Sailorrr Moon, I know you arrre…”

“I’m nobody you don’t know anything!” Usagi wailed and hightailed it up the stairs. Why did her life suddenly involve so many stairs? She never signed up for this exercise regimen!

“You have to transform!” Luna insisted, keeping pace with her up the stairs.

“Nooo I can’t it’s too scary!”

They burst out into the roof, where the radio array directly ahead of her on its metal frame immediately filled her vision, the glowing red lights blinking slowly on and off in a maddeningly calm contrast to her heart beating a 180 bpm rhythm against her chest. Usagi doubled over and coughed as she attempted to get her breath, but this only lasted a half-second before the youma threw the door clear off its hinges to announce her arrival.

Why did Usagi run up?

Why up?

Luna seemed to read what she was thinking. “You have to transform if you want to make it off this roof!”

Usagi whirled around, her boot scraping noisily against the gritty rooftop. “Not if I hide!”

Luna huffed, her exasperation rising as she followed Usagi into the maze of air conditioners and ventilation outlets that made up the majority of the rooftop.

When Usagi had put enough distance between herself and the youma to feel it was safe, she crouched down behind one of the air conditioners and held her breath.

It was not the youma’s, but the man’s voice that first broke the silence.

“You can’t hide forever.” His tone was mild, and yet still menacing. It was the calm that made Usagi’s skin crawl the most. He was definitely approaching her position as he continued, “I’m amazed you came here. It seems I underestimated you. I fully expected you to go to the department store later tonight, where we would be waiting.” He paused for a moment to give Usagi time to answer, a chance she chose not to take him up on. “You might as well come out, Sailor Moon. My queen grew tired of waiting for you to show up, so we lured you to your death.”

Usagi exchanged quizzical looks with Luna. _Queen?_

Why would scary guy’s queen want her dead?

“Found you!” The youma came around the corner of the unit behind her.

Usagi shrieked and ran, colliding into the man where he stood in waiting. He looked down his nose at her, “Though frankly, I don’t see why we should bother with a coward like you.”

The blood drained from Usagi’s face as she gaped up at him, mouth opening and closing soundlessly like a fish wrenched from the water. The man’s eyes slid from her face down past her to land on Luna, and a flicker of interest sparked into life.

“A cat…?”

Luna hissed.

The man had the look of someone trying to remember something. If there was any time that Usagi was going to get away, this was it, but his grip on her shoulder was like a vice. Too soon he snapped out of his thoughts and to the youma said, “Kill the cat for good measure, something tells me that would be best.”

Kill the cat?

To even consider something so monstrous he’d have to be a… a monster!

The man gripped her tighter. “So long, Sailor Moon…”

However he planned to kill her, before she could even transform _into_ Sailor Moon no less, he didn’t have the chance to go through with it. Something went whizzing between them and he let go of Usagi with a cry of pain. There was the sound of fabric rippling through the air, as she was wrapped up and lifted off her feet by strong, familiar arms.

Tuxedo Mask landed neatly on the roof a short distance away and set Usagi back on her feet. “You have a way of finding trouble, don’t you, little cosplayer?” He brushed some hair off her face and tipped his head back towards the strange man and the youma. “I think though, that this is not the costume for the occasion.”

Usagi sighed. “You’re right.” The brooch came easily from her pocket, almost as if it had been waiting for this moment. “ _Moon Prism Power! Make Up!_ ”

Usagi came out of the transformation and, emboldened by having Tuxedo Mask there (sorry Luna), stood as straight as she could to look down on her would-be murderer and state, “Alright fine, you lured me out. But who are you and what do you want, anyway?”

That sounded better in her head. She needed to work on her heroic speech game.

The man smirked. “I see no harm in telling you.” He lifted his chin and did way better than her at the whole look-down-on-your-enemies thing. “I am Jadeite, one of the four generals serving the Dark Kingdom under her majesty Queen Beryl.”

“Wow, okay, literally nothing you said sounds like it has anything to do with me,” Usagi retorted, crossing her arms with a scoff and pointedly ignoring Luna’s distant gasp of recognition. That gasp gave her a bad feeling. It probably had something do with her. In fact, it most definitely was about to have a lot to do with her.

Jadeite lifted one hand and made a waving motion in the direction of Usagi and Tuxedo Mask. “Kill them both. I’m sick of him getting in our way.”

The youma lept forward, ripping directly through one of the ventilation outlets that stood out from the roof with her talons for no reason other than to show that she could.

“Whoa, whoa, can’t we talk this through?” Usagi dashed left, while Tuxedo Mask went right. She skid across the roof to come to a stop and stomped one foot on the ground to reinforce her position. One hand flew to her forehead and she looked quickly between the youma and Jadeite. The youma was the immediate threat, but there was no telling what Jadeite would do during the brief moment it took for her tiara to come back. Although the same could be said if she chose the reverse about the youma. Could she trust Tuxedo Mask to take care of the enemy she chose not to attack? Maybe she should attack the one who scared her most first. Which one scared her most? They were both pretty scary but for different reasons. What was the Dark Kingdom? Why did this Queen Beryl person want adorable little non-threatening Usagi dead? What did she ever do to her?!

Ultimately the decision was made for Usagi as the youma got in one good hit on Tuxedo Mask that sent him flying clear off the side of the building.

“No!” Usagi yelled. The tiara turned readily to the shiny weaponized frisbee in her hand and she sent it flying at the youma without hesitation. “ _Moon Tiara Action!_ ”

She didn’t even get to see how the youma fared, because immediately her vision was filled with nothing but Jadeite’s military jacket. He smacked her hard in the shoulder, a petty move really, knocking her off balance so she had to stumble back a few steps.

“Regardless of how much or what threat you actually pose to the Dark Kingdom, _that_ is bound to get old really fast,” he sneered down at her.

Usagi was trembling, but her mouth ran off on its own anyway, “Your monster lady things shouldn’t be so weaksauce then.”

Jadeite’s hand snapped out to grab her by the collar. He pulled her clear off her feet to get right in her face. “I’ll be sure to choose wiser in the future, just in case your boyfriend survived and makes trouble for me in the future.”

Over his shoulder, Usagi saw her tiara arc through the air to return, and willed it to hit him in the back of the head or something. Instead, it was just moving in to do so when he twisted around and, eyes still on hers, reached out with his Usagi-free hand to catch the tiara and throw it unceremoniously to the ground. She heard it clatter and closed her eyes briefly in despair.

“Sailor Moon…!” she heard Luna’s voice cry out helplessly.

Wait, that’s right, Jadeite had threatened to kill Luna too! If she couldn’t save Tuxedo Mask, at least she could save Luna. Usagi opened her eyes, suppressing the fear bubbling up inside of her and swinging her legs to give herself momentum to crack her head against Jadeite’s directly between the eyes. He gave an enraged cry of pain and involuntarily dropped her. Usagi grabbed her tiara mid-roll to get out of his reach and scrambled to her feet. She sent it flying again but Jadeite recovered just in time to evade it. He rushed at her but Usagi stepped to the side and grabbed his outstretched arm, knocking him off his feet with a wrestling move she used to get in trouble for using on her younger brother.

Jadeite recovered quicker than Shingo ever had though. He twisted his wrist around to wrench her down with him, and they kicked off to both land back up on their feet and eye each other warily.

The fear was threatening to take hold of her again. Usagi was way out of her league, way, way out of her league. So far the youma she’d come up against had basically run on instinct, while he was calculating, already she could feel him reading her. All she had was a magic frisbee and a wrestling move that he probably wouldn’t fall for again. Holy crap, she was going to lose. And there was much more than the last chocolate chip cookie at stake here, too! This was it. Her luck was only going to carry her so far, right? He’d said he was a general in an actual army! She was a junior high schooler about to fail her midterms. How was this her life?!

No but really, this didn’t add up at all.

“Why does your queen or whatever want me dead? What’d I ever do to her? What is the Dark Kingdom after anyway?”

“Who am I to question her motives?” Jadeite shrugged one shoulder casually. “Although, if you are also searching for the Silver Moon Crystal, that makes you my enemy. That Crystal is the key to our glorious takeover.”

“Glorious what now?!”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “You heard me. Not that you’ll be around to see it.”

“No, but I’ll be around to stop you.” Usagi stood straighter. “Anyone who sneaks around in the shadows and tries to murder sweet, innocent young girls such as myself and her cat probably doesn’t have the world’s best interests in mind for this shady takeover. Just you try it! In the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!”

Jadeite came at her in a blind rage. “You don’t have a say in the matter!”

“ _Moon Tiara Action!_ ”

He evaded it, as she suspected he would, but then there was a flurry of motion she had trouble following but something black entered the fray and knocked Jadeite off-balance and into the direct path of the tiara-frisbee as it circled back to return to Usagi’s hand. He tried to put himself back out of its path, but was too slow, and it glanced off just under his ribcage, slicing through his jacket and drawing blood. The black mass of helpfulness proved to be Tuxedo Mask, back from the dead, much to Usagi’s joy. She caught the tiara and, thankfully noting it didn’t have any blood on it, replaced it on her forehead.

Jadeite struggled to stay on his feet. He stared Usagi down menacingly. “Remember what I said, Sailor Moon. I’ll be back.”

With stronger help, yeah, she remembered that part.

More importantly, Tuxedo Mask wasn’t dead!

Usagi ran to him and, entirely on a combination of joy and relief and impulsiveness, threw her arms around him and kissed him on the lips. His arms encircled her, holding her on her tiptoes while he returned the kiss. To only make the moment more magical, the clouds momentarily broke, letting the crescent moon come into view. Its soft light highlighted the flush on both their cheeks as they slowly came apart.

“I thought you were dead,” she said, running her fingers through his hair at the back of his neck.

“You shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Tuxedo Mask said, his lips ghosting over hers on the verge of another kiss, “I’ll always come back for you.”

“That seems like a hard promise to keep.”

“Do you doubt me, though?”

She shook her head. “No, not at all.”

Luna cleared her throat and Usagi and Tuxedo Mask reluctantly stepped out of each other’s arms. “We should go.”

Tuxedo Mask curled his index finger fondly under Usagi’s chin. “Maybe someday we can see each other’s true faces.”

She put her hand over his. “Why not now?”

“Let’s enjoy the mystery, shall we?” With a flourish he pulled a rose seemingly from the air and kissed the backs of her fingers even as he placed it in her hand. “Thanks for the song, LittleMoonchild.”

Then he was gone, leaving her with the fragrant rose and the fluttering of her heart as she slowly realized…

“He heard my request on the radio!” She picked up Luna and swung her around in a happy circle. “It’s destiny, Luna, I can feel it!”

“Yes, well,” Luna squirmed, but her heart wasn’t in it. “More importantly…”

Usagi stopped spinning and sobered up. “I don’t wanna think about the Dark Kingdom right now.”

Luna looked sympathetic. “You’ll have to think of it eventually. But for now, let’s go home. You did good tonight, Usagi.”

“Thanks.”

She didn’t want to think about it, but her mind was still full of questions all the way home. She was also surprised at how readily she’d stood up to Jadeite. _Just you try it! In the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!_ She had been ready to throw down the gauntlet and defend the world? Fighting to protect Naru from a monster was one thing, but the whole world from some mysterious ‘Dark Kingdom’? She was glad she had Luna and Tuxedo Mask for support, but would that be enough?

“Hey, Luna?”

“Yes?”

“What are we gonna do if we find the Silver Moon Crystal?”

Luna pondered this for a moment. “At the very least, it should be powerful enough for us to vanquish our enemies. Other than that… I’m not sure. Hopefully the answers will come to me soon.”

Usagi hugged her close. “We’ll keep searching.”

 

The next morning the clouds had moved in again and while it wasn’t raining yet, the air felt like it could start at any minute. Usagi swung her umbrella back and forth in a wide arc as she walked. Luna was trotting along the top of the garden wall next to her. She still had some time before she met up with Naru and there was no sign of the vile nicknamer anywhere, so she asked a question that had popped into her mind that morning.

“Are there any other people like me, do you think?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if I’m Sailor Moon, does that mean there’s a Sailor Earth or maybe a Sailor Sun somewhere?”

Luna hmmm’ed at length. “Those don’t ring a bell, but something tells me there might be other Sailor Soldiers.”

Usagi stopped, the umbrella held straight in front of her like a sword at the ready. “Ooh, what about Sailor V?!”

Luna looked skeptical and opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted with a completely new voice entered the conversation.

“Oh, are you studying French?”

“Huh?” Usagi turned her head and noticed another girl in her school’s uniform behind her. Usagi didn’t know this girl, so they must be in different classes. More importantly, “French?”

The other girl had short-cut fluffy hair and wore glasses over her wide blue eyes. There was a vocabulary study guide in her hand. She blushed a little and shyly explained, “Sorry, I, uh, thought I heard you say ‘c’est la vie’.”

Beside her, Usagi heard Luna choke back a laugh. Choosing to ignore it, she went, “C’est la… what?” and then it clicked, “Oh, no, no, I said Sailor V! She’s a, uh, singer I like…” What did c’est la whatever mean? She was about to ask when the other girl turned bright red and hurriedly apologized before picking up pace and walking ahead towards school with her bag clutched her to chest. Usagi gaped after her. “Hey, w---”

“Usagi~!”

Naru jogged over from her street and looked curiously in the same direction as Usagi. “Were you talking to Mizuno?”

“Kind of?”

“I didn’t know you knew her.”

“I…don’t?”

Naru raised her eyebrows at her. “Didn’t think so. I’d start to wonder what else you were hiding from me if I suddenly found out you were besties with the smartest girl in school.”

This clicked. “Ohhh, you mean the girl who always kicks Umino’s butt in test scores?”

“That’s the one. I hear she’s kind of a snob.”

“Aww,” Usagi looked ahead, but the other girl was already out of sight. “She seemed kind of sweet, but very shy.”

“If you say so. Anyway, let’s stop at the convenience store. I wanna see if I can bribe Umino with some curry buns to let me see his study guide for today’s Science midterm.” Naru pointed ahead at the store in question.

“Oh, oh,” Usagi hopped in place. “I want in on that.” Never mind the Dark Kingdom or whatever, if she didn’t pass her midterms her mother would kill her first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	5. Keep a Cool Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's hard enough being a magical girl without having to consider going to cram school, too...

Usagi summed up every last bit of courage she had deep within her. She was going to need it. She squared her shoulders and mentally rechecked her backup plans and backup-backup plans one last time. She’d just gotten her allowance and debated googling how far she could get if she put it all towards train fare.

Naru peered closely at her. “What’s with that face? You look like you’re about to go to war.”

“Don’t you remember what today is?”

Naru responded with a wry grin, “They’re posting the midterm results today?”

“For years I’ve cultivated the perfect junior high school lifestyle,” Usagi clenched a wavering fist. “I do the bare minimum in class, didn’t become class rep for anything, and avoided joining any clubs, so my lunchtime is free for naps and my after-school is free for games. Yet impending doom looms ever darker on the horizon…”

Naru laughed. “Your mom finally threatened to send you to cram school, huh?”

“You don’t go to cram school?” Mamoru said by way of greeting, riding up on his bicycle. “That explains a lot.”

Usagi glared at him. “I suppose you’ve never failed a test.”

“Can’t say I have.”

Figured.

He dropped a hand heavily on top of her head. “Don’t feel bad, Dumb-bun, I’m sure you have other qualities that will get you through life. Test aren’t everything.”

Usagi shoved his hand off her. “Don’t just assume that I failed! I might have miraculously passed! It could happen! And my name is Usagi!”

He grinned maddeningly. “I look forward to hearing how it ‘miraculously’ turns out.”

“Who says I’m gonna tell you?”

“If you don’t, Naruru or Motokun will.”

Usagi turned to glare at Naru. She would too. “Traitor.”

Naru smiled brightly and spread her hands wide in a mock helpless shrug in response.

“Do I have no true friends in this cold, cruel world?!” Usagi shook her fist at the sky to up the melodrama.

Naru laughed and pulled her in the direction of school. “Let’s go see if the gods of testing are on your side. See you later, Mamoru!”

 

Usagi and Naru met up with Yumiko and Kuri as they were pulling down their indoor shoes, and the girls subsequently ran into their classmate Umino in the hall where the test scores were posted for all the school to see in something Usagi could only think was a form of public humiliation.

“I mean,” she gestured wildly as they came up to the posting, “do they have no respect for our privacy? We should complain to the Hu- Hyu- uh… what’s it called?”

“Hu…?” Naru thought a moment. “Human Resources?”

“That’s for like, workers at a company, not students in a school,” Kuri corrected her.

“So what am I thinking of?” Usagi wanted to know, otherwise it would bother her all day.

Kuri opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by a strangled cry that sounded like a dying goose but turned out to just be Umino. His knees buckled and he made an impressive show of putting Usagi’s previous melodrama to shame. “Where did I go wrong…?!”

“Huh?” Vocabulary problems all but forgotten for the moment, Usagi followed his gaze up to the source of his woes. A wry grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Ohhh, same as last time, huh?”

Umino’s score was one point away from full marks, putting him in second place for their year just below Mizuno in the next class.

“What question was it? What subject? Was it English? I knew the difference between ‘a’ and ‘the’ would be my downfall!” Umino pulled at his hair in despair.

“Mizuno sure is something else,” Yumiko said in amazement.

Kuri nodded. “We used to go to the same cram school, and she got the same perfect results there, too.”

Usagi shuddered at the mention of cram schools. “I wonder what she does to relax?”

Her friends gave her mutual quizzical looks. 

“You think someone with test scores like that has time to relax?” Naru asked incredulously.

“Her hobby is probably just more studying,” Yumiko added, to which Kuri and Naru laughed in agreement.

“Ahh, I need a break from all this science,” Kuri said, putting on a snooty type of air, “think I’ll relax with this math textbook.”

Naru laughed harder. “Oh, please no. She sounds like a girl version of Umino!”

“Hot!” Umino interjected, and was roundly smacked over the head by all four girls for it.

“Ew!”  
“Ugh!”  
“Gross!”  
“Take that back!”

“Anyway, let’s find our names and then head to class…” Usagi trailed off as she noticed Mizuno herself standing well within hearing range of their conversation. Oops. She quickly shushed her friends, but that just made Mizuno’s face turn a deeper shade of red, barely visible with how fast she turned to leave.

“I hope she didn’t think we were being mean…” Yumiko said smally.

“We kind of were,” Naru admitted with a grimace.

“You’re the one who compared her to Umino!” Kuri pointed out.

“Check my score for me, I’m gonna go apologize,” Usagi said and ran after Mizuno. She caught up to her just outside the other girl’s classroom and fell in step next to her. “Um… we didn’t mean anything by that. Sorry if we made you feel bad.”

Mizuno hunched her shoulders and mumbled, more to the floor than to Usagi, “It’s okay, I’m used to it.”

Usagi’s face fell. That wasn’t right. “Oh, um… hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you. What does that French thing you said to me the other day mean?”

“Huh?” Mizuno looked up at her this time. There was still a tinge of pink on her cheeks and her eyes were watery behind her glasses.

“It sounded like ‘Sailor V’,” Usagi offered helpfully.

“Oh,” recognition took hold, “it was ‘c’est la vie’ it means um, it’s something you say in a situation you can’t really change the outcome; sort of like ‘that’s life’.” Her voice dropped to a nearly inaudible mumble, “But really, I should have realized that wasn’t what you really said…”

“Why? Seems like an honest mistake to me.” Usagi pointed finger-guns at her. “C’est la vie, amirite?”

This actually got a tiny smile out of Mizuno. “I guess so.”

“And I learned something new! That… I will probably forget right away. Anyway, no hard feelings?”

Mizuno shook her head. “No hard feelings.”

“Cool.” Usagi happened on an idea. “Oh, hey, if you don’t mind maybe you can help me with something else. I’m trying to think of this word, hu-something or other. It means like--” She was cut off as the bell for class rang. “Eep, never mind, gotta go. Let’s talk some other time! Bye!”

She was gone before Mizuno could even manage a tiny “Bye” in response.

 

Usagi slid into her desk just in time and glanced over at Naru. “How’d I do?”

“You just barely slid in over the pass/fail line,” Naru grinned at her.

“Saaaafe!” Usagi flopped over her desk in relief.

“How’d it go with Mizuno?”

“I donno how she got a reputation for being a snob, she just seems super shy.”

 

Later that evening, Usagi returned home and scurried up the stairs as quickly as she could before her mother could ask about the midterm results. Once safely in her room she sighed in relief and began changing out of her school uniform.

“Hey, Luna, you know things…” she began casually in the middle of pulling a t-shirt over her head.

Luna lifted her head from where she was curled up on the bed and raised an eyebrow. “I like to think so, yes?”

“What’s the word for like, making sure people’s privacy stays private and people aren’t treated badly and stuff?”

Luna furrowed her brow. “Security?”

“No,” Usagi whined. “I mean like a group of people that do the thing.”

“I’m sorry, Usagi, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“It starts with an ‘H’ or something. Like hu… hu… humorous?”

“This does indeed have the potential to turn into a comedy routine.”

“What?”

“Never mind.” Luna sighed. “Perhaps we should start setting aside some more time each night for you to study before going out to search for the Crystal.”

“Oh crap, is that Mom I hear calling to say dinner’sreadysorryLunagottarunlaterbye!”

Luna rolled her eyes as the trailing ends of Usagi’s pigtails whipped around the doorframe and went back to her catnap. As if going downstairs was going to let her escape from her study-related problems.

 

Sure enough, midway through dinner, Usagi dropped her chopsticks in shock. One of them fell into her miso soup, causing it to splash Shingo’s sleeve.

“Hey, watch it, idiot! This is my favorite hoodie!”

“But, but…!” Usagi ignored her brother and stayed focused on her parents, sputtering, “I passed my midterms!”

“Barely,” her father reminded her.

“It’s only a short-term course,” Ikuko said firmly, patiently.

“How long is a short-term course?”

“Six weeks.”

“Moooommmm!” Usagi set down the miso soup she was just about to take a sip from a little harder on the table than she intended and splashed her brother again.

“I said watch it!” Shingo smacked her in the arm.

“Shingo, don’t hit your sister,” Ikuko immediately reprimanded him.

“Yeah, that hurt!” Usagi looked over at him in reproach. He stuck his tongue out at her so she returned the gesture. Both parents admonished them for this, so Usagi returned to the bigger problem. “Do I have to go to cram school?”

“Yes, we already paid for it,” her father said with finality.

“You start tomorrow,” her mother put the final nail in the coffin that now housed her social life.

 

Usagi spent the rest of the evening crying, complaining to Naru, playing Sailor V songs too loud, playing fighting games too loudly, and sighing dramatically whenever her mother was in earshot. None of it worked and the next day, late in the afternoon, her mood heavier than the thick rainy-season clouds that hung low in the sky overhead, she said good-bye to Naru and followed the directions provided by her mother to the cram school.

There was no saving her now.

With a heavy heart, she reached for the door…

“Tsukino?”

A vaguely familiar voice greeted her before she’d taken even a half step inside. She lifted her gaze with great effort to find…

“Oh, Mizuno? You go here?”

Mizuno approached her, nervously pulling the sleeves of her cardigan down over her hands. “Yes. Um, a-are you here for the short-term course, by any chance?”

Usagi answered with one of her now well-practiced dramatic sighs. “Yeah, I didn’t do so hot on the midterms so my parents are forcing me to come here.”

“I see. I-I hope it’s not too terrible for you.”

Usagi stood a little straighter, the faux-pas from the corridor suddenly resurfacing in her memory. “Don’t get me wrong. I mean, if you like studying, that’s cool and all. It’s just not for me.”

Mizuno shook her head softly, a shy smile on her lips. “It’s okay, I know what you mean. It’s not for everyone.”

Usagi met her smile with her sunniest grin. “Therapy, right?!”

Mizuno giggled. “C’est la vie, you mean.”

“Ah…” Usagi felt herself blush as she sheepishly said, “I told you I’d forget.”

“You did,” Mizuno was still giggling. She was actually pretty cute once she relaxed. “If you end up being my partner, Tsukino, maybe this course won’t be so bad after all.”

“Huh?” Usagi didn’t know what she meant by that, but more importantly. “You know, you don’t have to call me by my family name. Call me Usagi.”

Mizuno blinked in what appeared to be genuine surprise. She really must not have many friends, Usagi thought to herself, watching as her cheeks turned deepening shades of pink. “O-Okay, Usagi… then… um… you can call me Ami.”

Usagi smiled, and felt instantly better about the whole cram school thing (a little). “Okay, Ami!”

 

As it turned out, the short-term program that Usagi had been signed up for against her will involved pairing problem students (i.e. Usagi) with high-scoring students (i.e. Ami) to see if maybe learning from their peers might help some students improve. It was this part that Ami, as someone who found talking with new people extremely difficult, had not been looking forward to. Unfortunately, this time around Usagi and Ami weren’t put together as partners, but since the pairs would be revolved each week, there was still a chance they would be together eventually.

All the same, when the lesson mercifully ended, Usagi asked her new friend if she wanted to walk home together.

“I’m sorry,” Ami said, sounding far more apologetic than was warranted in Usagi’s opinion, “I’m not actually going home just yet.”

“Huh?” Usagi blanched. “You’re not going to stay and study more, are you?”

Ami shook her head. “No, there’s a community pool nearby that’s open until 11. I always stop there for a swim to wind down on the way home.” She shyly examined her shoes for a long moment. “Y-You can join me if you want?”

Exercise was right after studying on Usagi’s personal list of things she didn’t understand how anyone found relaxing but swimming didn’t sound too bad. Unfortunately, “I don’t have a suit with me.”

“Oh.” Ami looked even more embarrassed. “I don’t suppose you would. Sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize. If I did, I’d totally go with you.”

As they passed the front desk on their way out, the receptionist got to her feet and called out, “Tsukino?”

Oh no. First day at a new school and already she was in trouble? Were they going to kick her out for not being smart enough? “Yes?”

The receptionist smiled and held out a sheet of paper. “Can you give this to your mother, please? We forgot to include it in the information we gave her. It’s a link to information on our other courses.”

Usagi took it, already contemplating the chances of her mother finding out if she accidentally on purpose forgot to pass it on.

 

Later that night, Usagi was out with Luna searching for clues to the crystal when they ran into a youma. It wasn’t a very strong one, thankfully, and once it was taken care of, Usagi declared she was done for the day before it got any worse. Luna relented, saying they better be cautious of being followed.

Once they were gone from view, Jadeite melted out of the shadows and plucked a sheet of paper from the ground. Turning it over, he read the contents, and then crushed the paper in his hand with a sly grin…

 

Luckily Usagi’s cram school program was only three days a week, so she didn’t have to go the following day. She did keep a curious eye out for Ami in the halls at school, but naturally since they were in different classes with different schedules they never crossed paths.

Therefore she was kind of looking forward to meeting her new friend, despite the fact that it was at the horrid house of educational torture. But when she walked through the door, there was something…

...different…

All the students in the waiting area and even the receptionist snapped their heads up to watch her enter with baleful glares, like she had intruded uninvited on something. The room was cold, and not even from the too-early full-throttle use of the air conditioner. Usagi stopped in her tracks and broke out in a sweat despite the drop in temperature. “Um…”

“What do you want?” the receptionist snapped.

“I-I’m here for the short-term course…?” Usagi answered meekly, handing over her student ID.

“That course has been cancelled.”

“Huh?”

“We’re a real school with no time to waste on stupid kids who underperform.”

Wow. Harsh. Usagi glanced around, trying to find Ami in the sea of unfriendly faces. “Um, but… it’s been like, paid for and everything…?”

“Your parents can consider it penance for raising a failure like yourself.”

Usagi felt tears prickling at the back of her eyes. Sure she felt bad for disappointing her parents sometimes but there was no need to put it like that, was there? Also what kind of receptionist talked like that?

“Is there a problem here?” A tall, statuesque woman in red horn-rimmed glasses emerged from the office behind the desk and looked down her nose at Usagi.

The receptionist handed her Usagi’s student ID. “It’s nothing, just one of the students we thought we’d culled yesterday.”

The new woman offered Usagi a thin, business-like apologetic smile that didn’t feel in the least bit… apologetic. “Terribly sorry, Miss…” a distasteful look at the student ID she held between two long fingernails painted the same poppy red as the frames of her glasses, “Tsukino, we’re no longer running that course. The school has taken a new direction, focusing only on elite students.”

“But…” Usagi should be relieved but… “But… that seems kind of… what’s the word, a-abrupt?” What about her parents’ money? How would she explain this to her mother? How would she live it down when Shingo found out? This was like posting the test results for all to see! Which reminded her, what was that group that protected privacy and made sure people were treated properly again…? Hu… hu… hu...mongous something or other? No, that wasn’t it...

“In any case,” the tall woman in glasses interrupted her derailed train of thought. She made certain she had Usagi’s attention again before unceremoniously dropping her student ID in the trash, “you are no longer a student at this school. I’ll thank you to leave.”

Usagi gaped at her in shock but ultimately was so overwhelmed by the injustice of it all she felt she had no choice but to turn around and go. As she did, she was just in time to see Ami come in through the door with the same dark look on her face as the rest of the students in the room.

“Ami…” Usagi greeted her, relieved for a fraction of a second.

“Oh, you actually came again?” Ami said instead of greeting her like she expected. “This is a serious school. I don’t think you’re welcome here, Tsukino.”

That was the final crack in her defenses and the tears spilled over. Usagi brushed past Ami without a word and bolted from the cram school as fast as she could. She headed straight home, but momentarily slowed down at the entrance to the shopping district to look mournfully inside and debate going to see if Naru or Motoki were around. This proved to only make her afternoon worse…

“That you, Bun? Thought you had cram school for dummies today.”

Usagi sniffled. “Leave me alone, jerk.”

Mamoru got off his bike and looked closer at her, actually showing the decency to seem concerned. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“Doesn’t look like nothing.”

A sob tried to work its way out of her but she managed to downgrade it to something more like a hiccup. “Th-They kicked me out because they only wanted good students.”

“That...sucks. Not very fair either, no one’s a good student from the very start,” Mamoru said sympathetically. “Are you going to the game center? Motokun should be working today.”

Mamoru treating her nicely felt weird. Usagi frowned hard at the sidewalk and shook her head so hard her pigtails swirled around her. “I’m going home.”

“You sure? Your friends might even be there?”

Usagi glared up at him through her tears in suspicion. “You just want to make fun of me more, don’t you? I said leave me alone!” She took off running again for home before he could reach whatever ‘sick burn’ his being nice was building up to.

Luckily her mother wasn’t at home when she got there, so Usagi avoided having to explain being home early. She went straight to her room and flopped face-down on the bed to feel sorry for herself.

She didn’t account for Luna being there.

“Usagi? What’s wrong?”

Usagi mumbled a miserable “nothing” into her duvet and was content to leave it at that until Luna brought her some tissues and nudged her with them. She sat up and blew her nose then haltingly and with more sobbing fits told Luna the whole story, ending on, “but what hurt the most was how Ami treated me. I thought we were friends now. I was gonna go swimming with her.”

“Hmm…” Luna put a paw to her mouth in thought. “Something doesn’t seem right. Usagi, we should investigate.”

“Investigate?” Usagi hiccuped.

“I have a feeling… just a feeling, mind you, but this seems like our enemy might be involved.”

“Huh?” This caught Usagi by surprise to the extent that she pretty much stopped crying. “You think the Silver Moon Crystal is at a cram school?”

Luna shook her head. “Don’t be absurd. There’s two possible reasons; they’ve either moved on to sowing discord in general for...whatever reason I cannot fathom at this time, but my intuition tells me that’s not outside what they’re likely to do. The other reason, I fear, is this may be another attempt to lure you out.”

“Huh?” Usagi said again. “How would they know where I go to cram school?”

Luna shrugged. “How did they know what radio programme you listen to?”

Okay, Luna had a point there. Wait. If the Dark Kingdom was messing around with the cram school…

Usagi sat up straighter. “Ami and the other students might be in danger!”

Luna nodded. “Bring the disguise pen and we’ll check it out.”

Usagi was doubly glad that no one else was home as she snuck down the stairs and headed back out, still with red-rimmed post-cry eyes and Luna on her shoulder. She also thankfully didn’t run into Mamoru again on the way back. When the cram school was within sight, she ducked into a narrow sidestreet devoid of people.

“What should my disguise be?”

Luna jumped neatly from her shoulder to the ground. “You might need to go into the staff areas, so a student wouldn’t be a good option… maybe a cleaning lady?”

“Whaaat?” Usagi whined. “That’s not a glamorous disguise at all!”

Luna rolled her eyes. “Yes, because one must look glamorous when sneaking into a local _cram school_.”

“Oh, I have an idea!” Usagi barrelled on without acknowledging this bit of realism thrown in her direction. “Moon Power…! Turn me into a friendly and cool student teacher!”

Luna wanted to ask what that even meant, but she bit her tongue because Usagi wasn’t complaining about going to (possibly) face the enemy for once. Also it was nice that she’d stopped crying.

Usagi came out of the sparkleplosion dressed in a faux-brand t-shirt under a faded military jacket and an ankle-length tulle skirt. Faded vintage converse were on her feet with some super cute socks she wished the pen would let her keep. On her head was a beret, with her hair in a messy bun at the nape of her neck. She also blinked as something was fuzzily on her peripheral vision, finding it to be a pair of round-lensed glasses that were currently all over the fashion tags popular with university students on Instagram.

“You know, this pen has pretty good taste,” she said as she looked the rest of herself over.

“Yes, yes, let’s not forget what it’s actually for and go investigate the school.”

“You really are a stick in the mud sometimes, you know that?”

“So you keep telling me.”

Usagi marched up to the cram school and opened the door with as much bravado as she could muster. Again she was met with frosty glares, but she squared her shoulders and approached the receptionist.

“Hi, I’m the new student teacher.”

“We didn’t--”

“Staff room’s through there, huh? Thanks.” Usagi didn’t give the receptionist time to react and pushed through the door marked ‘teacher’s room’. The room was empty and she waited a moment to see if the receptionist would pursue her. When the door showed no sign of opening, Usagi breathed a sigh of relief and put her hands on her hips. “That wasn’t so bad! Now what?”

“We look for evidence of youma activity. If the Dark Kingdom is behind this, it stands to reason that Jadeite might be hiding around here somewhere.” Luna hopped up on one of the teacher desks and began poking around.

Usagi made a face. “I hope we don’t run into that guy, he scares me.”

“I’d be more worried if he didn’t scare you,” Luna retorted. “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary here, let’s go check out the classrooms.”

They had to cross in front of the reception desk to get to the stairs leading up to the classrooms, but the receptionist didn’t say anything. If looks could kill though, Usagi would be dead on the spot. She scurried up the stairs and peered around the corner to make sure the hall was empty before tiptoeing past every door and taking a cursory look through the windows. Even for a school it was deathly quiet; not even the sound of teachers’ voices could be heard. Every classroom she peeked into was full of students with their heads bent over their work. At a glance this didn’t seem especially abnormal, but the heavy, dark mood that had been downstairs was even stronger up here. It gave Usagi a growing sense of foreboding. Something was wrong. Was this what Luna’s intuition felt like to her?

In one of the windows, she spied Ami sitting in the third row from the front, a pile of textbooks next to her and dark circles under her eyes. To her new friend she whispered, “Don’t you worry, Ami, I’ll get to the bottom of this…”

“And just who are you?” a new voice demanded.

Usagi banged her head against the door in surprise and straightened up rubbing the welt forming as a result to face who had found her. It turned out to be the woman in the red horn-rimmed glasses from earlier. She had her arms crossed and was gracing Usagi with an impressive… un-impressed look.

“Uh…” Usagi thought fast, “hi. I’m the new student teacher. I was just trying to find my classroom. Everyone’s so busy it was hard to find the right time to ask.”

“Student teacher…?” the woman trailed off.

“Yup, starting today.”

“In that case, you haven’t heard about the new interview question for all staff and students.”

That seemed odd, but at least her student teacher-ness wasn’t being questioned. “I guess not?”

“You can answer it now,” the woman smiled and Usagi could swear the temperature in the hallway dropped a few degrees. “It’s a simple general knowledge question; what kind of gem is most associated with the moon?”

“Huh?” Usagi was so caught off guard her mouth began to answer before her brain caught up, “you mean the Sil--” She had made it halfway through the word when Luna bit her hard on the ankle and she snapped to reality. “Ow. Si… Simple moon rocks right? There’s no gems on the moon, unless you mean really tasty rice cakes made by bunnies.” Did that even make sense? It wasn’t even an amusing joke.

The woman raised an eyebrow. “I said associated with the moon, not actually on the moon. Are you sure you’re qualified to be a student teacher?”

Ouch. Even though she was only disguised as one and knew full well that she wasn’t actually qualified, being asked in such a direct manner still stung.

The woman stepped closer to her. “Or… did you have to quickly cover up for almost giving me the real answer to the question?”

Usagi backed into the door. “I’m not sure I know what you mean…”

“The people at this school are intelligent, most have answered with ‘moonstone’ or ‘pearl’, and a few with ‘quartz’... but the only person to instinctively start with and catch themselves before they finished saying ‘silver’ is you.”

“Isn’t silver associated with the moon… or something?”

“Silver isn’t a gemstone.”

“R-Right…” Usagi was backed all the way to the door. She’d have to enter the classroom to get away from the woman’s advancement at this point.

“But,” the woman loomed over her, her glasses flashing in the overhead fluorescent lights, “the Silver Moon Crystal _is_ a gem, isn’t it… _Sailor Moon_?”

If Usagi was a better actress she could have covered her surprise effectively. Unfortunately acting wasn’t in her future as the best she could come up with was a warbled, “Wh-Whaaaat are you talking about? Sailor who? Never heard of her! You must have me confused with a, uh… different super cute blonde girl who doesn’t know about moon-related gemstones… or… or something…”

The woman adjusted her glasses and haughtily observed, “You’re new at this, aren’t you?”

Hey wait, who was judging whose choices here? Usagi pressed herself into the door and regathered her thoughts. “You’re one to talk. You really think the Crystal’s gonna be hiding in a cram school?”

From beneath her, she heard Luna scoff and mutter, “They’re clearly here to look for you, not the Crystal.”

“Huh?”

The woman’s hand snapped out and grabbed Usagi around the throat. “Even if you do manage to weasel out of your impending death again this time, General Jadeite has made a great discovery here. The energy of these pathetic humans can be collected and put towards the glory of the Dark Kingdom… we’ll use every last drop they have to give. Yourrr corrrpse will be the icing on the cake.”

“Hnng…” Usagi tried to twist out of her grip but she was pinned against the door. What scared her was how none of the students in the room seemed to take any notice. “Collecting energy…? What will happen to the students?”

The woman’s laugh came out thick and slimy, her words slurring more and more as she put more pressure on Usagi’s throat and came closer to letting her human disguise slip. “Once they have no morrrre lllife enerrrgy to give, they’lll die, of courrrse, use yourrr head…”

Die?

Also, rude.

But more importantly, Ami was in danger!

So was Usagi, really. She couldn’t breathe and her vision was slowly growing dark and hazy. Even so, she managed to wheeze out, “I won’t… let you… do… that…” Why did these people like to choke her so much?

Usagi kicked at the now mostly-reverted-to-youma woman to no avail. She didn’t have enough power the way she was… she was going to have to transform. She sucked in a breath and reached for the transformation brooch.

“ _Moon Prism Power! Make Up_!”

In the midst of her transformation and subsequent kicking off from her captor, Usagi broke down the classroom door to land hard on her back upon the linoleum floor. She rolled, coming up on one knee to leap backwards and put more distance between herself and her enemy in one fluid motion. “How dare you put these students in danger for your scummy kingdom! Young people are our future and should be treated with respect! In the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!”

Not sure of how the speech landed this time around, Usagi cautiously looked over at the students.

They were all still working. They either had amazing concentration abilities or it was some kind of spell she had to break.

Wait.

There was one student looking up.

It was Ami!

“A-- I mean, Mi-- I mean, hey, you, you should, uh… get somewhere safe! My cat will take you!” Usagi called out to her.

“Your… cat?” Ami asked slowly, sounding sluggish in that way someone did when they were just waking up.

Luna hopped up on the table and froze for a moment as her and Ami’s eyes met. “Yes, come with me!”

Ami’s eyes darted from Luna to Usagi and back again. “But…”

Luna crouched low to the table and considered her options. Her intuition was telling her one thing, but common sense raised too many questions. What if Jadeite was watching from somewhere? What if any of the students remembered what they witnessed? But at the same time, the students were all in very real danger and Usagi wasn’t used to close combat… If only there was something…

Luna had a flash of inspiration that just might work. “Sailor Moon,” she called, still crouched low to the table, gathering her energy, “use your tiara to knock out the lights!”

“Huh?”

“Do it!”

Usagi blinked in surprise at the sharp tone and quickly obeyed. “Okay, okay, _Moon Tiara Action_!”

The tiara-frisbee careened at the ceiling and crashed through bank after bank of flourescent lights, creating blinding flashes of light. Luna used this to her advantage to jump into the air and concentrate her magic. She would have prefered to be more certain and take time to talk with Ami first, the way she had with Usagi, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Luna pushed the blue and gold cylinder into Ami’s hand and as the last bank of lights burst, throwing the room into semi-darkness, she told her,

“Take this and say Mercury Power, Make Up!”

Ami took the transformation pen and stood up. “If I do, I can help her, I assume?”

“Yes. Now, quickly!”

“ _Mercury Power, Make Up_!”

“Huh?” said Usagi, the word breaking off into a squawk as the woman, now fully reverted to her youma form, grabbed her by the collar and forced her all the way back against the bank of windows at the far side of the classroom. Usagi could hear the glass start to crack behind her. This all happened in an instant, though, and in a number of meanings, time seemed to freeze as Ami’s voice echoed through the room.

There was a flash of blue-white light, and the temperature dropped so fast a mist formed along the floor of the classroom. As Usagi’s eyes adjusted, she saw there was someone standing in Ami’s place who...she recognized as Ami and yet she looked different; much the same as Usagi looked different when she was Sailor Moon.

Ami’s hair had lightened to a shimmering blue like a late afternoon sky on a winter day, and it curled around a blue-tinted retro-futuristic visor over her eyes. Her sailor uniform was similar to Usagi’s, only hers was two-toned in a deep, almost royal blue ultramarine offset by a shimmering pale blue where Usagi’s ribbons were pink, and almost as if in direct contrast to the wintery theme her outfit seemed to run on, she was completely sleeveless.

Luna’s eyes were shining with pride. “You’re the Pretty Soldier of Wisdom, Sailor Mercury!”

Ami looked herself over in surprise. “I’m…?”

“Quickly, we can explain later! You have to help Sailor Moon! You should be able to analyze the enemy with your visor.”

“How do you…?” Despite how readily she’d taken the chance to help out, it was still taking a moment for Ami to process the situation.

Usagi managed to get in a solid kick on the youma that knocked her away. She collapsed to the ground on her knees to catch her breath and called by way of explanation, “Luna just knows stuff. Like she said, we can explain later!” She would have liked to assure her more, but the youma recovered and attacked her again.

Ami took a breath to center herself. The pigtailed girl and the talking cat said they would explain later, a monster was rampaging in her classroom, and her mind was awash with equal parts new knowledge and new questions. _One thing at a time, Ami_ … she reminded herself, and let her intuition guide her. This was no different from a practical exam or one of the problem solving games she used to play as a child.

Her fingers fluttered up to her ear, where she naturally found the controls for the embedded computer in her visor. Information dashed across the screen and she mentally processed it all, taking no time at all to grow accustomed to the AR display, break it down in her mind, and come up with an answer. “Her weakness is her eyes!”

“That explains the ugly glasses earlier!” Usagi bopped one fist on the open palm of her other hand in a _Now I get it_! gesture.

Luna rolled her eyes. “Don’t confuse your personal preferences for logic.”

“That certainly does sound like confirmation bias,” Ami agreed.

“What about a virus?”

“Ugh,” Luna sighed.

The youma growled low in her throat, lunging for Usagi again. Usagi wailed and ran out of reach. “There’s not enough room to put space between us so I can use the tiara again!”

Ami exchanged a glance with Luna and nodded. “I’ll distract her!” She crossed her hands before her and concentrated, feeling power flow throw her to collect in her fingertips and become words on her lips, “ _Mercury Aqua Mist_!”

The room filled with an icy mist, distracting the youma long enough for Usagi to use her tiara to dispatch the youma in short fashion. The moment she had faded to dust, all the students in the room stopped what they were doing and slumped over the desk. A quick check by Ami proved they were only sleeping.

Together the two girls and Luna searched the school. Everyone else in the building was also asleep, and thankfully there was no sign of other youma or Jadeite.

“What are we going to do about all these people though?”

“I have an idea,” Ami readily suggested. “Can you turn back into your disguise from earlier, Usagi?”

“Sure I ca-- huh?”

Ami blushed and smiled, twisting her hands shyly. “I kinda figured it was you. You’re the only person I know who would mishear ‘bias’ as ‘virus’.”

It was true, so all Usagi could do in response was break out into a relieved laugh. “Okay, tell me your idea.”

 

Later that evening, Ikuko was fussing over Usagi at dinner, having heard already on the news about the ‘carbon monoxide leak’ at the cram school. “It’s a good thing that student teacher showed up to open the windows and call an ambulance…” she said, setting down Usagi’s rice in front of her.

“Yeah,” Usagi picked up her chopsticks. “Super good timing. This looks great, Mom, I’m famished!” She quickly began eating to save herself from having to explain more. Also she really was super hungry.

Ami’s idea to cover for everyone fainting after the youma attack was to blame faulty wiring in the air conditioning system for a carbon monoxide leak. Once the two girls had broken their transformations, Usagi used the disguise pen again and called emergency services under the pretense of being a student teacher who happened to stop by the school to drop off her resume. Ami had pretended to be one of the students affected, with the promise that she and Usagi would meet up later that night to explain things.

 

In trying to decide on a place to meet up, Usagi remembered the Hikawa Shrine was roughly between her and Ami’s neighborhoods, so they had settled on there. The moon was high and bright in the sky when Usagi arrived, slightly out of breath because she’d gotten distracted and left home late, to find Ami standing against one of the thick pillars of the shrine’s tori’i gate waiting for her.

Ami greeted her by way of holding up a convenience store bag and asking, “Do you want lemon or milk tea? I like both, so I got one of each.”

“Ooh, thanks. I’ll take the milk tea!”

Ami spied Luna at Usagi’s feet and put her hands together apologetically. “Sorry, I didn’t think to bring you anything.”

“It’s alright, I’m fine,” Luna assured her.

Together the three of them sat on the shrine steps and the girls opened their bottles of tea. After catching up on what happened after they parted ways at the cram school and going through a quick explanation of how Usagi and Luna met and the mission to find the Silver Moon Crystal before the Dark Kingdom which, by the way, seemed populated by scary youma that could disguise themselves as people for nefarious reasons and took orders from some scary creepy dude named Jadeite, Ami sat back and took out her transformation pen to consider it for a moment.

“It feels like I should find this all so much stranger than I actually do.”

“I call that the ‘Luna Effect’,” Usagi laughed.

Luna didn’t look impressed. “So says the girl who complains at every turn.”

Usagi stuck her tongue out at her. “Just because I don’t find it weird doesn’t mean it’s not super duper scary, okay?”

“Why us, I wonder?” Ami pondered aloud. “You say your intuition led you to us, right, Luna? I never used to consider things like ‘destiny’ a realistic concept and yet it almost feels like the most logical answer. I wonder if I could take this pen or Usagi’s brooch apart and study them. How do they work?”

“They just do?” Usagi took out her brooch and tilted it back and forth to let the moonlight play over it. “I never really wondered why.”

“That would be the difference between you and Ami, now wouldn’t it?” Luna commented.

“Why is everyone being so mean to me today?!” Usagi whined, pointing at Luna with her tea bottle, “If you weren’t a cat I’d report you to the… the… humid rain commission.”

“The what?” Luna scoffed.

Ami put all of her Usagi-translation skills to use. “Do...you mean the human rights commission?”

Usagi choked in the middle of taking a drink of her milk tea. “That’s it! Wow, Ami, you really are a genius!”

Luna put a paw to her forehead. “How did you remember the word ‘commission’ but not ‘ _human rights_ ’?”

“Vocabulary isn’t my strong suit, okay?”

“I think that’s a well-established fact by now.”

Ami giggled. “Let’s get back to the topic at hand, shall we? Does your intuition tell you any more about what our next plan of action is, Luna?”

Luna shook her head, and her tail twitched back and forth in frustration. “All I know for sure is we need to find the Silver Moon Crystal before the Dark Kingdom does. I also have a strong feeling that there are, as Usagi wondered the other day, other guardians… other Sailor Soldiers like you two. I have the strong sense that one of them may even be close.”

“I still think Sailor V would be awesome!” Usagi said brightly.

At the same time Ami suggested, “The next planet after Mercury is Venus, if celestial bodies are the theme.”

“Why doesn’t the sun get a Sailor?” Usagi wanted to know.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any answers yet,” Luna’s tail twitched faster. “And I do apologize for that.”

“It’s okay,” Ami assured her, “I’m sure it frustrates you more than us.”

It was so nice to have someone understanding on her side. “Thank you, Ami!” Luna hopped up a few steps so she was eye-level with the girls and turned serious. “But what I can say is that today’s events proved the enemy is no longer content to just search for the Crystal. They will try to find you, and they will put other people in danger, of this we can be certain. I need both of you to be extremely careful.”

“Right,” Ami answered, her expression sober.

Fear had crept over Usagi’s face again, “Does this mean I can go back to avoiding the youma?”

“If they’re attacking regular people to steal energy now, then no.”

Usagi pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her face with a miserable, “I knew you’d say that.”

Ami smiled at her. “You were very brave back at the cram school, and you have me now to help you.” She held out her hand to Usagi. “Let’s do our best to help Luna.”

Usagi lifted her head, wiped away the tears that had formed, and shook her hand. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

Usagi and Luna shared a few more stories with Ami to catch her up to speed, and the girls exchanged contact information before parting ways lest either of their respective mothers notice they were gone.

On the way home, Usagi was surprised to turn a corner and find a slightly disheveled Mamoru emerging from an alleyway.

“What the-?”

He looked equally surprised. “What are you doing out at this hour, Little Bun?”

She bristled but her curiosity got the better of her. “What are you doing out at this hour?” Something like deja vu prickled at the back of her mind but the thought was gone before it could finish forming.

Mamoru grinned boyishly at her. “Just running to the convenience store. You never know who’s out and about this time of night, though. How ‘bout I walk you home?”

His empty hands and lack of a visible wallet made her suspect this was a lie. Usagi was all the more curious for it, but stuck her nose up in the air nonetheless. “I have Luna with me, your services aren’t needed.”

He winced playfully. If he didn’t always rub her the wrong way she might almost find him charming. “Ouch, ranked below a cat. Okay then, but be careful. And don’t go crying all the way to school when you oversleep in the morning.”

Definitely not charming.

“If you didn’t always say stuff like that you wouldn’t be such a jerk, you know.” Usagi gave him her best blisteringly unimpressed look and continued on her way. “Honestly!” She stopped at the corner and snuck a look back over her shoulder. He was still at the entrance to the alley, and raised his hand to say goodbye. Usagi scoffed and spun around. Of all the recent changes in her life, he was the one that she understood the least.


	6. Fireworks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer vacation gets off to a start with a festival that ends up being a little more exciting than anyone expected...

“Tsukino!”

Usagi heard her name called and slowed her pace, turning to see her homeroom teacher, Sakurada Haruna, approaching her. “Good morning, Haruna-sensei.”

“Good morning. Today’s the last day of school before summer holidays, huh?” Haruna commented as she fell in step next to Usagi.

“Yeah!” Usagi was excited.

“See you bright and early tomorrow for summer school!” Haruna said with her cheeriest smile.

Usagi’s mood instantly dropped all the way to the opposite side of the Earth in shock. “Wha?”

Haruna tried to hold it in, but failed the moment she got a good look at Usagi’s face; she burst into laughter. “I’m just messing with you. You’ve been doing better lately. That cram school course your parents sent you to was good for you.”

“I would have drowned in the homework if it weren’t for Ami helping me,” Usagi admitted sheepishly.

“Ami?” Haruna repeated the name and had to think for a moment. “You mean Mizuno in the next class? Now there’s a friendship I could never have predicted.”

“People keep saying that…” Usagi pouted. “It always feels like I’m being dissed.”

“Oh, come now. Even you must admit no one would have seen that coming.”

“Just because you’re right doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“Honestly, Tsukino? When you really think about it, you do seem like the type to make friends with anyone.”

“Are you… praising me?!” Usagi looked up at her teacher with what was only half-playful shock.

“Don’t let it go to your head. You still have to do the summer homework, remember?”

“Oh, uh, wow, is it time for the end-of-term assembly already? I better hurry so I’m not late for it you wouldn’t want that would you as my homeroom teacher or… somethinganywaybye!”

“Don’t run in the halls!”

Usagi entered the school auditorium and shuffled through the students towards the area reserved for second year students. She stood on her tiptoes to look for her friends and distantly heard her name being called. Towards the front and by the wall, she spotted Naru waving her over. She started to weave through the crowd in that direction when mid-way another person called her name.

Ami apologetically cut through a line of students to approach Usagi and greeted her with, “I was going to message you later, but...”

“What’s up?”

“I noticed on the way to school this morning that Hikawa Shrine’s summer festival is this weekend. Have you ever been before?”

“No,” Usagi shook her head. “I don’t usually go that way. I’d almost forgotten it was even there until we started using the torii for a meeting place.”

“Oh,” Ami tugged shyly on her cardigan sleeves. “W-Would you like to go?”

“To the festival? Where there’s going to be candied apples and cotton candy and takoyaki and yakisoba and fried squid and who knows what other delicious food waiting to be eaten? You bet I’d like to go! Do you wanna wear yukata? We should wear yukata!”

Ami smiled in relief at her abject enthusiasm. “Sure, I have a yukata somewhere, I think.”

“Awesome! Also… do you mind if I invite Naru and my other friends? I promise they’re nice, you don’t have to be shy around them.” Usagi reached out and took both Ami’s hands in hers in earnest.

Ami nodded. She could trust Usagi’s opinion. “Sure.”

“Yay! Although… I’ll warn you… Umino might invite himself along.” Usagi made a sour face. “He’s not a bad guy just… like… a _massive_ nerd. It’s inhumane.”

“You mean ‘inhuman’.”

“Yeah that…” Usagi thought a moment. “Maybe both.”

Ami giggled. “I’ll consider myself warned.”

“Let’s work out the details later, okay? Thanks for the invite! I’ll go pass it on to everyone now.” Usagi dropped her voice to a whisper as the school principal stepped up to the podium and announced the assembly was about to begin. “I’ll make a group chat!” Usagi waved good-bye and resumed threading the crowd to join her friends. No summer school and now a festival to look forward to? This was going to be the best summer ever!

 

The following Saturday, late in the afternoon, Ikuko did the finishing touches on Usagi’s yukata. She straightened up with a smile of satisfaction. “You look lovely.”

Usagi looked herself over; her yukata was white and covered in big, soft pink roses and sprays of cream-coloured honeysuckle flowers, and a deep rose obi with a translucent silver sash tied around the top for an accent as was the trend that year. The yukata had been a gift for her birthday the previous summer, since roses and honeysuckle were her birth flowers. Speaking of roses, she’d still had a red one from a recent encounter with Tuxedo Mask, so she made up a story about getting it from Naru’s mother and convinced Ikuko to put it in her hair.

Shingo was standing against the wall looking bored, wearing an olive green and navy striped jinbei. “You’re ready to go? About time.”

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Shingo,” Ikuko said, while Usagi just shot him a death glare. “I warned you that a yukata takes longer.”

Shingo snorted. “After going through all that trouble will you even make it up the stairs? You’ve never actually been inside Hikawa Shrine, have you?”

“No, but how many stairs can there be?”

“Like, a hundred.”

“You’re exaggerating!”

 

He wasn’t exaggerating, at least not in Usagi’s mind. She thought back to that time she had to climb all the way to the top of a department store and was thankful that she wasn’t in heels, at least. Shingo spotted his friends and left her with the parting warning of, “Don’t take so long getting to the top you miss the whole festival!”

“Shut up!” she shouted after him.

“Usagi~!” Naru called to get her attention and caught up with Yumiko and Kuri on her heels. Naru was in a retro Showa-esque deep green and rust yukata with geometric patterns. Yumiko was in a cute sea-green and pink one covered in peonies and butterflies. Kuri was the only one not in a yukata; instead wearing denim cut-offs and a tank top.

She shrugged by way of explanation. “I haven’t worn one since I was a kid and we didn’t have time to go buy one.”

“You should have said something, my mom has one you could have borrowed,” Naru protested.

Kuri grinned. “Next year! Anyway, where’s Ami?”

Usagi spun around, and was just in time to see Ami turn the corner down the street towards her neighborhood. “There she is!”

Ami’s yukata was in muted shades of blue vertical lines of different widths interwoven with vines of purple morning glories. Her obi was navy with silver accents, and a navy and silver ribbon was tied in her hair. “Sorry I’m late,” she apologized as she caught up, “neither my mother nor I had ever tied an obi before so it took longer than expected.”

“That’s okay, we just got here ourselves,” Usagi assured her. She put one hand on her hip and with the other pointed at the formidable staircase facing them. “Now then, festival food awaits!”

Naru shook her head. “You really do only care about the food, don’t you?”

“It’s what festivals are all about, right? I mean, what else is there?”

“The atmosphere?” Kuri.

“Fireworks?” Yumiko.

“Hot guys in yukata?” Naru.

“Goldfish scooping?” Ami meekly contributed, which saved Naru from everyone staring at her debating how to snark on her suggestion. “I think they’re pretty.”

“They are pretty cute.”  
“Yeah, I haven’t done it in years but it’s fun.”  
“Most guys in yukata are with their girlfriends anyway.”

Naru elbowed Yumiko for the last comment.

All five girls were out of breath by the time they reached the top of the maybe-not-really-but-certainly-felt-like 100 stairs to the shrine. The steps passed under another torii gate at the top, and then opened up to a big square courtyard already bustling with people and food stalls. The girls stopped to wash their hands before entering, then went to offer their respects to the shrine and pray before tackling the food stalls.

“Should we buy some fortunes?” Naru pointed at the little space reserved for selling fortunes, good luck charms, and other shrine-related items.

“Ooh yeah, let’s do that!” Usagi agreed enthusiastically.

“I saw something online about how the fortunes at this shrine are eerily accurate,” Yumiko informed them all. “There’s even an urban legend that one of the miko is psychic.”

“Psychic how?” Kuri raised an eyebrow at her.

Yumiko shrugged. “Like, what’s the word? Clairvoyance? She can find lost things and makes pretty accurate predictions about the near future and stuff.”

“Wow, I wish I could do that. It sound super useful,” Usagi said. “Don’t you think so, Ami?”

“It certainly sounds like it might be useful,” Ami agreed.

“You don’t actually believe in that, do you, Ami?” Kuri laughed. “You of all people?”

Ami shared a private smile with Usagi. “I like to keep an open mind. Reality can be stranger than fiction, after all. Anything is possible.”

“I suppose you’re right…” Kuri trailed off.

“Anyway!” Yumiko pushed up the sleeves of her yukata like she was about to go into a fight. “I’m buying a love fortune!”

“Ooh me too, me too!” Usagi ran after her towards the fortunes.

Naru scoffed good naturedly. “What do you need a love fortune for? You have your mystery guy plus Mamoru and Motoki.” But Usagi was already out of earshot.

Kuri shook her head. “Crazy.”

“For real.”

“I don’t know Mamoru or Motoki…” Ami trailed off.

“You might meet them today, I think Motoki mentioned they were going to come,” Naru told her. “Motoki works at the game center we frequent. Mamoru is his friend, and he likes to flirt with Usagi a lot.”

“A lot-a lot,” Kuri agreed.

“She says she doesn’t like him, but you know how it is…” Naru shrugged.

Ami didn’t really know for sure, since it was outside of what she was familiar with, but she could guess.

There was currently no one in the space behind where the charms and other things were lined up. Usagi leaned forward to peer into the back area and called, “Excuse me…!” which garnered a distant, “Just a moment…!” followed by the soft swishing sound of socked feet sliding across polished wood floors.

From around the corner where the little sale area was attached to one of the main shrine buildings came a miko so beautiful it made all five girls’ breaths catch in their throats. She had long, straight, glossy raven hair and deep purple eyes. With an otherworldly grace she knelt behind the charms and folded her hands in her lap. “Yes?”

Holy crap, she was gorgeous. Usagi struggled to find her voice. “U-Um, we’d like… to.. .um… try some love fortunes?”

“Five love fortunes, then? That’ll be 200 yen each, please.”

“Huh?” Ami didn’t expect to be included but here she was.

The girls each reached for their money, but Naru had to pause. “Huh?” She checked one sleeve, then the other. “I thought I put my money in my obi, but… huh…?”

“Did you drop it somewhere?”

“Just a moment,” the beautiful miko said. She put her hands together and closed her eyes, focusing for a moment before spreading her fingers and pulling them apart. She lifted her head and said, “It’s a small green change purse, right?”

Naru stared at her in shock. “Uh… yeah.”

“I believe you’ll find it on the stairs, not far down.” She leaned forward and glanced upwards towards the trees, upon which one of the crows perched in it squawked and took flight. “Phobos will show you.”

“Huh?”

The miko put a finger to her lips and smiled mysteriously. “Trust me.”

Naru looked between the miko and her friends and, with a shrug, trotted off towards the stairs where the crow was seemingly waiting for her.

“Um…” Yumiko broached the subject hesitantly. “Are you the miko I heard rumours about?”

“Probably. Sorry if that freaks you out, but I’d hate for your friend to lose her money and not be able to enjoy the festival.” She smiled apologetically.

“Why would that freak us out?” Usagi raised her voice. “That’s like, the coolest thing ever! It must be so useful!”

The miko looked surprised. “I...I guess…”

“You could say it is human nature to mistrust anyone different,” Ami pointed out slowly.

“People can be jerks for no good reason sometimes…” Kuri supposed along with her.

At that moment Naru returned, coin purse in hand and a smile on her face. “Found it! It was right where you said it would be! Thank you so much, um… Miko-san?”

The miko smiled. “You can call me Rei.”

The girls all introduced themselves, then paid Rei for their love fortunes and drew numbers. Once they all had their slips of paper, they huddled in a circle and on the count of three opened them up all at once.

The fortunes at Hikawa Shrine were broken down into very good, good, middle-good, little-good, and bad. Kuri and Yumiko both had the middle-good fortunes. Kuri’s predicted that she would encounter someone close to her age who was either a Pisces or a Libra. Yumiko’s predicted someone younger than her and told her to stay away from anyone living to the east or born in the year of the monkey.

“How about you, Naru?”

“It’s a ‘good’ fortune. It says I’ll have a whirlwind romance with an older man in the near future.” The other girls raised their voices in appreciation. Naru put the fortune to her chest and gazed, starry-eyed at the sky, “Maybe it means Motoki!”

“You’ll have to fight me for him,” Usagi joked.

“What about your mystery man?” Naru countered teasingly.

“Perhaps Usagi is into polyamory?” Ami suggested. She blushed furiously when this was met with four identical blank stares and she had to explain, “It’s where you enter into an open relationship with multiple partners.”

Naru, Yumiko, and Kuri burst out laughing. 

“Usagi, you perv! It’s not just food you can’t get enough of, huh? I see how it is!” Naru wiped away the tears of laughter from her eyes. She ignored Usagi’s flustered and incoherent attempts to deny it. “So come on, what does your fortune say?”

“You guys are so mean!” Usagi stuck her tongue out at her friends. “I have a ‘good’ fortune too. It says I’ll find love where I least expect it, but to expect some hardships along the way.”

“It’s true, no one really expects poly… what was it again, Ami?” Naru giggled and leaned against Ami’s shoulder in a vain attempt to compose herself.

A smile was tugging at the corners of Ami’s mouth. “Polyamory.”

“Not you too, Ami!” Usagi wailed. “What was your fortune, anyway?”

“Oh, um... “ Ami turned around her fortune for them to read. It was the only ‘very good’ fortune of the group.

“You have already met your soulmate, and while you are currently apart, that special person will find you in the future.” Usagi read aloud. “Wow, that’s super romantic.”

“Do you have any ex-boyfriends, Ami?” Yumiko asked. Ami blushed and shook her head. “Huh, so it must be someone with a secret crush on you.”

“Ami’s pretty cute, there’s probably lots of someones,” Kuri surmised. “Did you notice anyone at the cram school when you were there, Usagi?”

Usagi searched the sky as she thought back on her time at the cram school. “No one really stood out… except maybe that one guy with the eyebrows.”

“Eyebrows?”

“Yeah, doesn’t ring a bell?”

“Not really.”

“Oh, I caught him sneaking glances at you sometimes. Like, a lot of sometimes-es.”

“Seeee?” The other three teased, making Ami blush ever deepening shades of pink.

“I thought that sounded like you girls,” a new voice interrupted their giggling. 

Motoki emerged from the crowd at the food stalls, looking smart in a khaki and off-white yukata and olive obi that paired well with his sandy hair and put him in a well-balanced contrast to Mamoru next to him, who was wearing a dark, almost black, indigo yukata with a rich crimson obi. He had his dark hair swept to the side and had foregone the glasses today. Motoki looked good but Mamoru looked really, really…

Usagi was saved from finishing that thought when they were joined yet again by someone they knew. This time however, it was not someone so welcome.

“Hey, guys!” Umino walked up, wearing trousers and a polo shirt of all things. He didn’t look ready for a festival at all.

“Are you for real, Umino? You couldn’t even bother to dress for the occasion?” Naru rolled her eyes in disgust.

“Kuri’s not wearing a yukata!”

“Yeah, but Kuri looks cute. You look like a salaryman out with his boss for golf.”

Motoki took pity on Umino first and put out his hands in a calming motion. “Now, now. Let’s go check out the food stalls and eat before the taiko performance and the fireworks.”

“And before Bun eats the whole festival out of business,” Mamoru added, effectively killing any good will Usagi had mistakenly developed toward him.

Usagi gave him her most blistering unimpressed look she could manage and stalked off towards the food stalls ahead of everyone. Naru, Yumiko, and Kuri exchanged ‘see what we mean?’ looks with Ami before following her.

As a group, they all meandered through the food stalls, while Motoki and Mamoru got to know Ami, and everyone bought and snacked on whatever foods caught their eye as they went. Ami got to try her hand at goldfish scooping for the first time in years, promptly catching one and gifting it to the little girl who had watched her play in earnest.

Some time later, when it was just starting to get dark and Usagi had begun to wonder if she should buy something to take home to Luna, they ran into Shingo and his friends at one of the game stalls.

“Shingooo,” Usagi teased, “are you losing all your allowance on a shooting game?”

Shingo frowned. “Shut up, idiot.”

One of his friends laughed. “He’s been trying to win that Sailor V charm.”

Usagi peered into the stall, where the older girl in a poppy red happi coat working inside helpfully pointed out the really, really, super cute Sailor V charm that would look perfect on her school bag. She didn’t even know Sailor V had made some new merchandise. Wait a minute…

She stood back and regarded her brother with a raised eyebrow. “Since when did you like Sailor V?”

Shingo frowned harder at her. “It’s not for me, you big dummy.” The rest of what he had to say slowly devolved into a low mumble that she was only just barely able to accurately decipher as “Tomorrow’s your birthdayinnit?”

“Huh?”  
“Oh!”  
“It is, isn’t it?!”  
“Really?”

Usagi glomped onto her brother with a huge smile on her face. “Awhn, Shingo you do care!”

“Ack! Gerrof me!” He shoved her off. “You’re not getting anything because I can’t win anyway.”

“It’s just a shooting game, isn’t it?”

“It’s not a regular one with air guns though, you have to use a frisbee.”

“A frisbee?” Usagi grinned and plucked one up off the table. She puffed out her chest proudly and boasted, “Just you watch your big sis! I’ll get that charm, no sweat!”

“How can I call it a birthday present if you win it for yourself?!”

She wrapped her arms around him again, much to his great disgust. “My gift is your loooove, little brother dearest.”

“Gah, stop it!”

“Also it’s still your money.”

“Ugh, fine. Can you really get it though? A total klutz with no coordination like you?”

Usagi gave a smug smile and wound up with the frisbee. “Just you watch!” She let it fly and sure enough, it sailed directly towards the Sailor V charm and knocked it off the rack.

The red happi wearing girl picked up the bell on the table and began waving it around enthusiastically. “Congratulations!! Nice shot!” She handed Usagi her prize, but her hand on the charm lingered and she leaned just slightly too close to ask, “How did you get so good at that?”

Usagi laughed nervously. “I donno, it’s just something I picked up.”

“Can you do it again?” Naru grabbed onto Usagi’s shoulders from behind and put all her weight on her. “I want that stuffed unicorn!”

Usagi laughed. “Yeah sure, if you pay.”

Just as Usagi won Naru the gaudy stuffed unicorn, from back towards the main temple buildings, the booming sound of taiko drums began to draw the crowd’s attention. Now with Shingo and his friends added to the group, everyone all collectively began to head that way.

“Hold up, Bun,” Mamoru stooped down and plucked something off the ground she didn’t immediately recognize in the growing darkness. “The flower fell out of your hair.” 

He stepped closer and she saw it was the Tuxedo Mask rose. “Oh, the pin must have come loose. Thanks.” She reached for it, but his hands slipped effortlessly past her own towards her hair. “Um…?”

“It would be hard to do this by yourself, wouldn’t it? Even with a mirror.” He began to pin the rose back into her hair for her. He was so close all she had to look at to distract herself from that fact was the line of his collarbone and the way his yukata hung loose off his shoulders. She could almost feel his body heat and smell the faint scent of body soap… none of which was a distraction at all. If anything it only contributed to the problem.

Mamoru finished pinning the rose, and as he drew back the petals brushed his fingers, confirming once and for all that it was a real rose, and not a fake one. This height difference, the frisbee, and the rose all came together to remind him strongly of a certain someone else…

But it couldn’t be. Usagi’s yukata had roses on it, she had just coordinated her hair with her outfit. He just had... her on his mind.

Mamoru stepped back and poked her forehead. “All done, Little Bun.”

Usagi rubbed at where he poked her and grumbled, “I really wish you’d cut that out.”

“But it suits you so well!”

“You’re such a jerk,” she said, but her heart wasn’t in it.

“Usagi~! Mamoru~!” Naru called. “What are you doing? You’re gonna miss the start of the show!”

“Coming!” Usagi ran to catch up.

She caught up with Naru and they wove hand-in-hand through the crowd towards the front, where they could get a clear view of the low stage where the taiko drum performers were in the middle of the first song of their performance. To the right of the stage roared an impressive bonfire. The heat rolling off of the flames made the girls break out in a sweat under their yukata.

“I can’t stand it!” Naru tugged at her collar. “I’m going to go get a drink. You want anything?”

Usagi handed her some money. “Grab me a ramune?”

“Okay. Be right back.” Naru, along with Yumiko, Umino, Motoki, Mamoru, and a couple of Shingo’s friends melted back into the crowd.

Usagi turned back to watch the taiko performance and happened to notice Rei, the miko from earlier, standing by the bonfire… staring directly at her. That seemed… odd. Usagi gave a hesitant fingerwave, but got no response, just an unrelenting, expressionless stare. It continued all through the taiko performance that, as a direct result, Usagi was barely able to concentrate on, let alone enjoy it. She began to fidget and accidentally bumped into Ami.

“What’s the matter, Usagi?” Ami asked.

“That miko from earlier keeps staring at me.”

“Are you sure she’s not just watching the crowd?”

“She hasn’t taken her eyes off me, look!”

The taiko performance came to a dramatic conclusion, followed immediately with the first volley of fireworks being launched into the air. Usagi momentarily looked up in surprise, not expecting them since she was distracted. In the split second it took for her to return her gaze to the miko, the other girl had halved the distance between them, her long, dark hair rippling behind her and creating a fearsome image of her backlit by the bonfire. Usagi backed into Ami and stammered out something that vaguely sounded like asking what she wanted. 

Rei came imposingly into Usagi’s personal space and hissed, “I don’t know where you got that, but how dare you bring such an evil item into my family’s shrine.”

“Huh?” both Usagi and Ami said.

Rei snatched Usagi’s newly acquired Sailor V charm from where she’d hung it off her handbag and stalked back towards the fire.

“What the--! Hey! That’s mine…!” Usagi chased after her. “Just because you don’t like V-chan, doesn’t mea--!” 

She broke off as Rei stopped abruptly, intoned a short chant, and tossed the charm directly into the fire. The fire flashed a deeper orange and twisted violently, whipping itself into a frenzy. Rei pulled a paper fuda charm from her sleeve and tossed it also into the fire, upon which the flames immediately returned to normal.

Usagi was more confused than anything by this. “Um… okay, what… just happened?”

Rei rounded on her. “Where did you get that? I didn’t sense it on you earlier.”

“Sense… wha…?”

“Tell me where you got that!” Rei repeated forcefully.

“U-Um…” Usagi awkwardly pointed back towards the collection of food and game stalls. “At one of the shooting games back there.”

“Usagi,” Ami dropped her voice so their friends wouldn’t overhear, “do you think maybe the frisbee game might have been another attempt by the enemy to try and find you?”

“Wha…?” Usagi trailed off as it dawned on her. “That would make sense, wouldn’t it?”

“I should have realized sooner,” Ami berated herself.

Usagi laughed and waved this concern aside. “Don’t even start with that. I never would have thought of it in a million years!” Luckily Naru wasn’t back with her drink yet, so Usagi called to their other friends that she and Ami were going to find her and she and Ami quickly followed after where Rei had disappeared already in the direction Usagi had pointed in.

They caught up with Rei as she was stalking through the stalls. “How did I not notice?” she was muttering to herself, “I must have been so busy with the preparations for the fire…”

“If it is the Dark Kingdom, I wish we had a way to get in touch with Luna…” Usagi bit at her thumbnail nervously.

“You have your transformation brooch with you, don’t you?” Ami asked.

“Tucked in my obi. You have your pen?”

“In my sleeve.”

“Lookit us, actual ready-for-anything magical girls. We’re so cool.”

Without being told, Rei seemed to know exactly which stall to head for. Usagi and Ami stayed on her heels as she turned the last corner before the frisbee-shooting game, but then they stopped short and dodged back around the corner. They had both noticed that, standing next to the girl in the red happi coat, was…

“Jadeite…!” Usagi breathed the name, then squinted around the corner again and scoffed, “He calls that a disguise? He’s just wearing different clothes and a pair of dorky glasses!” She then immediately turned back and smacked her hand against her forehead. “Disguise! I should have brought the disguise pen too!”

“I don’t know…” Ami said slowly. “Something tells me that while it might fool Jadeite, Rei’s psychic ability might allow her to see through it.”

“You think so? What about when...if…” no, that was wishful thinking, even for her, “when we transform?”

“We may have to be prepared for her to discover our secret…”

Usagi took out her transformation brooch but hesitated. “Wait, do we really have to do this? What if he’s just here to enjoy the festival?”

They peered back around the corner to watch as Rei confronted Jadeite and the red happi girl they now assumed was a youma.

“Hey, excuse me? Who approved you participating in our festival?” Rei demanded by way of greeting.

Jadeite looked over and furrowed his brow at her, repeating the word, “Approved?” as if it were in a foreign language. He stepped closer to the collapsable table separating them and looked down his nose at Rei. For her part, she lifted her chin and met his gaze as dead-on as the disparity in their heights would allow.

“You seem...familiar…” he said slowly.

Rei rolled her eyes. “Nice try.”

Usagi slumped her shoulders. “Can’t be helped. Not even Luna could have predicted we’d run into a psychic miko, right?” She faltered under the quietly incredulous look Ami gave her. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Let’s go behind there to transform.” She pointed towards one of the little minor shrines that stood off to the side from the square and the two girls hurried into the slightly cooler darkness beyond, lit only fleetingly by the continuing fireworks display.

“ _Moon Prism Power Make Up_!”  
“ _Mercury Power Make Up_!”

Usagi leaped up onto one of the food stalls opposite Jadeite’s little stall of evil, and while it took her a moment to catch her balance on the rickety structure it served her purpose nicely. Backlit by the ongoing fireworks, she rose her voice above the din and drew his and the definitely-a-youma’s attention.

“Hey Jadeite, how dare you try ‘n ruin this summer festival with your sorry self? I don’t know what you’re up to, but just for party crashing, in the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!”

“What?” Jadeite said flatly, not impressed but insulted nonetheless.

Rei put her hands on her hips and regarded Usagi disapprovingly. “What are you doing up there? Get down before you hurt yourself!”

“Huh?” Usagi faltered. In that moment she almost lost her balance and flailed a bit before hopping to the ground to stand next to Ami.

“Miko-san, please get away from that man, he’s dangerous,” Ami called to her.

“You’re…” there was a flicker of recognition in Rei’s eyes, but she was more concerned with her annoyance to let on just how much she could sense of their true selves. In the tone of someone struggling to remain patient, she told them, “Look, I don’t know what you Sailor V cosplayers are up to, just… don’t involve me or cause any trouble for the people here for the festival, okay?”

Usagi gasped. “You like Sailor V too?!”

“Sailor Moon, this isn’t the time…” Ami reminded her.

“Oh, right…”

In the brief moment it took for Usagi and Ami to get back on track, Jadeite leapt over the table between the inside of the game stall and the aisle where Rei was standing to grab her at the nape of her neck. Behind him the youma, still in her human form, put one leg up on the table, ready to push off and leap over it at any moment from the looks of her eyes.

“There’s two ways this can go,” Jadeite said with an air of languid venom, “You let us kill you and I take this girl’s energy before she has to watch, or you resist, and we kill you before her eyes and then take all her energy.”

“You call those options?!”

“Indeed,” Ami agreed with Usagi’s outburst, albeit in a more calm manner, “Neither of those seem to benefit us in either way.”

Jadeite’s grip tightened on Rei’s neck as his mouth stretched into a malicious grin. “I was hoping you would choose the latter.” When both Usagi and Ami raised their arms to prepare for a fight, he jerked Rei over to stand directly before him and tutted, “Now, now, you’ll have to go through her to get to me.”

Usagi was mentally evaluating whether she could hit him with Moon Tiara Action before he had the chance to do anything when several things all happened at once.

The fireworks display reached one of its crescendos, a vibrant string of bright pops of colour and gold that compounded over and over upon itself to illuminate the night. At the same time, something arced through the air to slice across the back of Jadeite’s wrist, sacrificing a few strands of Rei’s hair as it went. The moment Jadeite cried out in pain and let go of her, Rei whipped around and snapped one of her paper talismans against his chest.

Her voice low and deadly, she warned him, “Don’t you ever touch me again. _Evil Spirits, Begone_!”

The paper talisman, and Jadeite’s military jacket along with it, burst into flames.

Usagi was so surprised she almost forgot to look for the rose. She assumed that’s what had cut Jadeite across the wrist, but instead her eyes landed on a gold, bejeweled crescent-shaped object. She picked it up and turned it over in her hands carefully, discovering that it was a compact that opened to reveal two small mirrors facing each other on the inside. It seemed odd, and she couldn’t be sure it was what saved her, but if her tiara could become a weapon, then…?

She looked around for who could have thrown it. If not Tuxedo Mask, then who had come to help them this time?

She was so distracted she heard Ami shouting a warning at her too late and was tackled to the ground. The gravel dug into her cheek and she sputtered on the mouthful of dust that unconsciously muttering “Crap,” as she went down had gotten her. She felt the youma dig the edge of her geta sandal painfully into her back between her shoulder blades. This wasn’t good.

“Sailor Moon!” She could hear Ami’s distress in her voice.

“Don’t worry about me! Help Rei!” she called.

Above her, the youma snickered, “So selfllless…”

Usagi smacked her free hand against the ground and threw all her strength into getting back on her feet. It didn’t get off to a great start. She was at a severe disadvantage. Her other hand closed tightly around the crescent-shaped compact mirror in frustration.

Crescent…

Moon…

“ _Moon Tiara Action_!” She couldn’t quite twist far enough to throw it straight up, instead bouncing it off the ground with precision that surprised even herself. The tiara-frisbee almost hit the youma right between the eyes, but she dodged just in time. Usagi scrambled to her feet and turned to face her, the sound of the gravel crunching under her heel sounding even louder in her ears than the fireworks. She caught the tiara as it boomeranged back but didn’t replace it on her forehead, instead keeping the spinning golden disc suspended over her fingers and ready to be thrown again.

Behind the youma, she could see Ami had put herself between Rei and a very angry and slightly singed Jadeite. He’d shed his jacket, revealing a short-sleeved red shirt that buttoned over the shoulder underneath, and he looked weird without the at-a-glance military attire. That fact plus how his hair was all in disarray would be comical if she didn’t still find him terrifying.

“Please, leave this to us…” Ami was saying to Rei.

Rei looked at her militantly. “Excuse me? This is _my_ family’s shrine, and I’ll thank you people to take… whatever this all is somewhere else!”

Usagi froze in place, the whole scary situation falling away as Rei turned to indicate her mid-sentence and she noticed… glowing faintly red on her forehead… she didn’t know for sure what it meant but she had a strong idea...

“A- er, I mean, Sailor Mercury! I-I need to go… we need Luna here!”

The youma crouched low to the ground. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Ugh. Cliche much? Usagi made a face, unable to help herself even though she knew the youma would try to make good on her threat. Why didn’t Luna tag along? What kind of magical girl mascot did she think she was? The Pretty Cure mascots went everywhere with the girls! Kerochan invited himself along with Sakura all the time! How did she end up with the talking animal sidekick that respected her space?!

Then, almost as if she’d summoned her out of force of indignant will alone, Luna came bounding out of the trees bordering the shrine grounds. “Sailor Moon! Sailor Mercury!”

“Luna!” Usagi called, running to stop the youma from moving to intercept her. “I think… I think the miko is one of us… or something!”

“Or s--” Luna looked at her skeptically, then turned round to look at Rei the same time as Ami. They both noticed what Usagi had seen immediately; a glowing red mark in the center of Rei’s forehead.

“That’s the symbol for…”

“Mars!” Luna finished for Ami.

“What?” Jadeite growled.

While everyone was distracted, the youma took advantage to rush at Usagi and knock her to the ground (again). The crescent-shaped compact and her tiara went flying out of her hands and skittering off into the night-soaked trees. The fireworks were ending and soon people would come this way. Usagi and the youma hit the gravel in a mass of flailing limbs and Usagi wailed, “Oh, come on!” before pushing the youma’s face as far away from hers as possible and yelling, “Luna, hurry up and do the flippy glittery magic cat glitter thing!”

Luna gave her the most unimpressed look she could muster. “Flippy glittery…” Then she got it and shook her head. “Right, right. Just… hang on over there in the meantime.”

“Like I’m gonna do anything else!”

Luna turned around and Ami helpfully took care of introductions. “Luna, this is Rei. Rei, this is Luna.”

You’d expect the talking cat to be the bigger question, but Rei surprised them both by asking instead, “So you are the girls I met earlier? Though I can’t quite tell who yet...”

“I’ll explain later,” Ami assured her. “In the meantime, please do as Luna says. I’ll keep Jadeite busy.”

Luna inwardly scoffed once more at Usagi calling it her ‘flippy glittery thing’ and did a perfect backflip through the air, the magic left in her wake coalescing into a glittering gold and red pen that dropped to the ground a half second before she landed. “Rei, please take this and come with me...”

Rei picked up the pen, looked once between Luna, the Sailor Moon/youma pile and the Sailor Mercury/Jadeite faceoff, then up to the trees, where her crows were watching on with bright eyes. “No,” she knew what she had to do, “here will do…”

“ _Mars Power Make Up_!”

Fire surged around her, at once new and familiar to her. When she emerged from the flames, they had adorned her with a vibrant crimson skirt and sailor collar, and a deep aubergine silk ribbon tied at her chest. Her hair hung slightly longer than normal, brushing the back of her knees and almost shining an ethereal purple in the night. On her feet were the kind of absolutely killer red pumps that she had always dreamed of having.

Rei lifted her chin and met Jadeite’s eyes defiantly. “I am Sailor Mars, the Guardian of War.” She gathered fire in her palm and tilted her head. “You don’t scare me. I don’t even need a paper talisman to take care of you now. _Evil Spirits, Begone_!”

Almost effortlessly, and with barely a look, she tossed the fire at the youma still locked in a stalemate with Usagi, and instantly reduced her to ash.

Usagi scrambled to her feet and brushed herself off before gaping at Rei in abject admiration. “Holy crap, you’re hot, super cool, AND way powerful?!”

Jadeite scoffed. “For once we agree,” he muttered.

Usagi didn’t let that slide. “Which part? All three?”

“I’ll let you have this victory, Sailor Moon,” Jadeite spat the name as if it were poison. “But I’m getting closer to finding who you really are. It’s only a matter of time now…” He pointed at Rei, “We will meet again.” And then he was gone.

Rei crossed her arms and hmphed. “Good riddance.”

Ami looked up at the suddenly-silent sky. “The fireworks ended, we should go before--”

“I’m telling you guys, she probably just got distracted by food or something. You know how she is.”

“Yeah, I’ve known her longer than you. She would have wanted to see the fireworks,” Naru’s voice followed Mamoru’s as the gravel crunched to indicate people approaching.

“Besides, Ami’s with her. You’d think she’d keep Usagi in… line…” Kuri trailed off as the group of friends rounded the corner and found the three Sailor Guardians (and cat) before they had a chance to get away.

Everyone froze.

Naru was the first to recover. “Sailor Moon!”

This snapped Usagi out of her stupor and reminded her that they all looked just different enough to not be recognized in this form. It actually made her a little proud to see the awe she, Ami, and Rei inspired in their eyes. She briefly met Mamoru’s gaze and blushed, for some reason there was something just slightly more… _direct_ , or something, about the way he looked at her.

Usagi felt herself start to blush and knew she had to say something. She put her finger to her lips and winked. “Have no fear, the festival is safe for you to enjoy.” Then with a nod to Ami and Rei, they leaped high into the air and disappeared into the trees.

Rei led the way and they all three girls quickly reverted back to their normal appearances before emerging on the other side of the trees onto the stairs leading back up to the shrine. In the time since Usagi and Ami had arrived, the stone lanterns lining the staircase had been lit, creating a path of warm, inviting orange light.

Rei looked over Usagi and Ami appraisingly. “I thought as much, after what happened at the bonfire.”

Ami nodded. “I assumed you would have realized it eventually on your own.”

“Think you can fill me in on the details before your friends find us?” Rei asked with a quick glance up the stairs. “We can say you were helping me light the lanterns.”

“Good idea.”

“I would like to know how this all came about as well,” Luna looked between them all.

Usagi and Ami filled Luna and Rei in on the abbreviated version of what either needed to know to get everyone on the same page. When all was said and done, Rei folded her arms and went “hm” while she pondered for a brief moment.

“To tell the truth, the bonfire should have offered protection for the whole shrine tonight. For this Jadeite and his ‘youma’ to get past the barrier and enter the grounds, the Dark Kingdom must be very powerful.”

“File that under ‘things I didn’t need to hear’,” Usagi chortled nervously, though she already kind of knew. “At least we have more help now. Maybe it’ll be easier to find the Silver Moon Crystal with Rei’s help.”

Rei tilted her head to the side and considered Usagi at length. “It’s funny, the only sense I get of this Silver Moon Crystal leads to you, Usagi.”

Usagi laughed nervously. “Say what? I promise I haven’t been hiding it all this time.”

Rei shrugged. “That’s all I can say. I might just need more time to get a feel for it.”

“Sailor Moon’s power may be in some say connected to the Crystal?” Ami offered as a hypothesis. She glanced at Luna to see what her opinion was.

“It’s a good theory. I’m afraid I can’t answer either way,” Luna admitted.

“By the way,” Usagi was reminded by Luna contributing to the conversation of the fact that, “You got here with awfully convenient timing, you know, Luna.”

“Yes, well…” Luna avoided her gaze.

Usagi crouched down as best she could in her yukata and leaned closer suspiciously. “Were you following us? If so, why didn’t you help sooner?!”

“I wasn’t following you, I…”

Before Luna could finish, Usagi shot back up and cried, “Help! That’s right! I dropped the mystery compact thing that someone used to help us!”

Rei looked up at her crow friends. “It seems the owner has already retrieved it.”

“Compact?”

Okay, maybe they forgot to fill Luna in on a few things.

“Yeah, it was--”

“Usagi, Ami, there you are!” Naru’s voice rang out from above. “We’ve been looking all over for you guys!”

Sailor Guardian meeting over, the three girls turned and began heading up the stairs while Usagi called, “Ha ha, sorry!”

“We were helping Rei light the lanterns,” Ami explained smoothly.

“The other miko are all busy,” Rei added.

“Oh,” Naru seemed to believe it, “well, you missed the fireworks, and your ramune is probably warm now.” She handed the bottle to Usagi, who made a face in distaste. No one wanted warm ramune, she’d make Jadeite pay for this. Naru went on to say, “Shingo said to tell you he was going to one of his friend’s places to play games, and a bunch of us were thinking of going to karaoke.”

“Ooh!” Usagi hopped in place in excitement at the prospect. “Yeah, let’s do that! You coming, Ami?”

Ami faltered, her voice growing quieter with every word. “I, uh… don’t know any songs…”

“That’s okay, you don’t have to sing,” Usagi assured her.

“Just laugh when Usagi can’t read the lyrics,” Naru suggested helpfully.

Usagi stuck her tongue out at her. “Who was it who tried singing a Kpop song recently even though she can’t read Hangul?”

“At least Hangul is a foreign language,” Naru retorted.

“Do you want to come too, Rei?” Usagi turned to her newest friend.

Rei smiled. “Maybe some other time.”

“Aww…”

“No, I mean it, I love to sing, but I have work to do here yet…!”

 

Just far enough away that Rei (probably) couldn’t sense their presence, the owner of the crescent-shaped compact sat on a tree branch high above the ground and swung her crossed ankles back and forth happily. “I think that went well.”

Her companion huffed. “You weren’t supposed to interfere. We don’t have enough information on the enemy yet to reveal the truth about you.”

“Yes, yes, working in the shadows where we have more freedom and all that. I know the plan, but our mystery tuxedoed gentleman wasn’t around for some reason.”

There was a tone in her voice that perked his ears. “You still don’t trust him.”

“I don’t have the best track record with sharp-dressed mystery men, remember?”

“You don’t have the best track record with men, period,” the companion countered.

“Low blow, Artemis.”

 

“Mamoru?” Motoki patted him on the shoulder to get his attention. “The girls and Umino are talking about going to karaoke, you wanna come?” When Motoki got no response, he patted his friend again. “Mamoru? What’s that you have there?”

“Hm?” Mamoru finally returned from wherever his mind had taken him. “Oh, I think one of those sailor girls dropped this…” He showed Motoki the pearlescent feathered hair clip that had fallen out of Sailor Moon’s hair during her scuffle with the youma.

“That was pretty wild,” Motoki commented, peering closer at it. “Those kids really went all out. It looked like a real fight.”

“Yeah…” Mamoru said distantly, closing his fingers around the clip. “Sure looked like it, didn’t it…?” He secured the clip away in his yukata sleeve. “So, karaoke? I’m game.”

“Awesome, let’s go.”

 

They rejoined the group just as Usagi was forced to give up on convincing Rei to join them. Mamoru fleetingly wondered if she was friends with everyone.

“Okay,” Usagi whined even as she relented, “But let’s meet again soon. Tomorrow even! Let’s have tea and cake! It’s my birthday!!”

“Okay, okay,” Rei gave in, resigned, as she recognized it was the only way to extract her hand from Usagi’s grip. “Just come find me here whenever.”

“It’s a date!” Usagi said gleefully.

Sufficiently placated, Usagi joined her friends and the group of them descended the stairs, chattering all the way about their karaoke plans.

Rei held out her arm and one of her crow friends fluttered down to alight on it. She fondly scratched the feathers under her chin and smiled ruefully. “I guess this is the big change we’ve felt coming for awhile now, huh?”

The Dark Kingdom… Jadeite and youma…

Sailor Guardians...

The search for the Silver Moon Crystal…

It was a lot to take in all at once. She felt the subtle weight of the transformation pen hidden in her sleeve and frowned, narrowing her eyes as she stared thoughtfully into the distance. The bonfire was already built behind her. Once the last of the festival goers had departed, she would have to try some divination to look for answers…


	7. Twist and Miss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know what they say, when something seems too good to be true...

Early in the afternoon on the day following the festival, Usagi, Ami, and Luna made the climb back up to Hikawa Shrine. It had been a hot and sweaty journey the previous evening, in the middle of a sunny early-summer day it was positively torture. Once at the top, the girls washed their hands mostly just to cool down, and looked around for some sign of Rei. Eventually they asked the miko sitting behind the fortunes and good luck charms for sale and stuck to the shade to wait.

When Rei emerged to meet them, Usagi immediately felt self-conscious about her white denim mini skirt and layered tank tops. She looked like, well, like a girl who stood in bookstores sneaking looks through fashion magazines she couldn’t afford. Rei, with her long legs accentuated by super-short distressed denim shorts, off-shoulder oversized t-shirt, and what looked like designer sunglasses atop her glamorous, glossy black hair looked like she could be on the cover of said magazines. Even Ami, who looked super cute in a vintage sundress with a wide white belt and cute lace-up sandals looked plain next to her.

If Usagi’s heart didn’t already belong to Tuxedo Mask and Motoki she would be in love. Three people seemed like it might be pushing it.

She just knew that if Naru were here and privy to her thoughts she’d make some sly comment about Mamoru, but she pushed that unpleasantness far back into the deepest darkest corner of her mind that she could find. No need to sour her afternoon with that guy.

“So, where to?” Rei asked.

“Ami knows a place not far from here with yummy fruit tarts,” Usagi offered readily.

“It’s a bit of a walk towards Roppongi but it’s worth it,” Ami added.

“Sounds good, let’s go.”

As they started down the stairs, Ami paused and looked over to Rei. “Aren’t you worried Jadeite might come back? He knows who you are.”

Rei paused in the process of shifting her sunglasses from atop her head to her face, then shrugged. “I strengthened the protective charms on the grounds last night and Phobos and Deimos will keep an eye out for him. Also, he may know what I look like, but he doesn’t know my name or that I live here. I’m not that worried.”

“Phobos and Deimos…?” Usagi repeated the strange names.

Rei answered her unspoken question, “Two of the crows that live here. I guess you could call them my familiars, although I’m not really an onmyouji or anything.”

Usagi’s mind boggled. Being a magical girl fighting evil by moonlight was already pretty removed from the reality she thought she knew, now she’d made friends with a psychic girl who had crow familiars?

“Aren’t those the names of Mars’ moons?” Ami asked.

Rei looked surprised. “Yes, not many people know that.”

“Ami’s a genius, she knows everything!” Usagi told her proudly.

Ami blushed and waved her hands to try and downplay this.

Rei looked between the two of them and bluntly asked, “How are you two friends, then?”

Usagi hung her head. “I should be used to people asking that by now but it still hurts.”

“You have to admit, it’s a legitimate question,” Luna pointed out.

Wait a minute, that was just digging the knife in deeper at this point. “Hey…!”

 

Jadeite stalked into one of the great halls and in a fit of quiet rage swept everything off the fireplace mantle to go clattering, crashing, and shattering to the ground. The petty destruction did nothing to improve his mood but he took a deep breath through his nose and did his best to quell the urge to do more.

Being lectured for what felt like an eternity by Queen Beryl had been bad enough, but to see the disapproving and, he was certain he didn’t imagine it, pitying looks on his fellow generals’ faces… it was unbearable. With the arrival of a third Sailor Guardian, and him unable to defeat even one of them, it was an embarrassment he could endure no longer. He knew the true face of Sailor Mars. That little fact he’d kept to himself so far, and it would be the key to proving himself in the eyes of his peers once again.

Long nails tapered into talons painted a shimmering pearlescent blue preceded the hands that slipped over one shoulder and then the other.

Jadeite shivered. “Titus?”

She began massaging his shoulders, working some of the wound-up tension from his muscles despite his best efforts to stay angry. Pressing herself against his back as she worked, she purred in his ear, “They just don’t understand, do they? You’re the one out on the front lines, doing the actual work… all. by. your. lonesome.”

Jadeite narrowed his eyes and twisted himself out of her hands to sneer, “Are you implying that I need help?”

Titus jutted out her hip and smiled with her glossy black eyes, splaying her fingers coyly across where her mouth would be if she was in her more human-like appearance. Even in this form, she still appeared more human than the youma. Jadeite had worked with her before, but never bothered to ask where exactly she came from. Zoicite, nosey gossip that he was, had mentioned something about her being an ancient water spirit, but how true that was remained to be seen.

“Perish the thought,” the words practically dripped of honeyed sincerity, “It’s not you that concerns me, it’s your ‘help’.”

“You think I need stronger youma?”

“I think you need someone stronger than a mere youma.”

Ah-ha, so that’s what she was after. “You mean someone like you.”

“Clearly.” She crossed the distance between them again, her hands sliding seductively up his chest to rest on either side of his collar, her thumbs ghosting over the skin of his neck just close enough that he could feel it without her actually touching him. “You know we make a good team.”

Jadeite smirked. “What do you have in mind?”

 

Usagi and Rei looked around, eyes wide, as they cautiously sat in the ornate European-style chairs. Even Luna looked taken aback at the fact that she was not only allowed in the cafe, but the impeccably dressed waitress had set down a little wicker basket complete with a soft cushion for her. Ami meanwhile was already looking at the single sheet of fancy embossed cardstock with illustrations of the fruit tarts on offer that was the only menu.

“Ami, when you said towards Roppongi…” Usagi trailed off.

“I didn’t imagine you meant Roppongi Hills,” Rei finished for her. “I haven’t been to a place like this in years.”

Usagi looked dubiously at the fancy silverware. “Pretty sure I never have.”

Ami smiled shyly. “My mother works at a medical clinic near here. It’s quite reasonably priced for the area. I thought since it was your birthday we could treat ourselves.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Rei said, “Happy Birthday, Usagi.”

“Thanks!”

The girls all ordered different seasonal tarts for themselves, two for Usagi since she couldn’t decide and “it’s my birthday!” as well as tea and a little serving of cat treats for Luna. While they waited to be served, the conversation began with getting to know each other, wherein they learned that Rei went to one of the expensive private Catholic schools nearby.

“Wait, why would a miko at a shrine attend a Catholic school?” Usagi wanted to know.

“My parents thought it would give me a well-rounded understanding of the world. Also the school has automatic advancement, so I didn’t have to worry about entrance exams and could keep up with my duties at the shrine.” She set down her tea and sat a little straighter, “Now then, enough about me. I think we should take a moment to really make sure we’re on the same page about this whole Silver Crystal/Dark Kingdom problem.”

Usagi swallowed hard and made a face that had nothing to do with her mixed berry and mascarpone cheese tart. (The tart was delicious)

Ami sat a little straighter and pondered a moment. “I suppose, while our involvement began with Usagi meeting Luna, the true starting point would be when the Dark Kingdom’s agents and Tuxedo Mask began searching for the Silver Moon Crystal.”

“Do we know why this Tuxedo person is looking for the Crystal?”

Ami looked at Usagi, who shook her head ‘no’ with her eyes wide in answer.

Rei didn’t look impressed. “Do we even know if he’s an ally or an enemy?” She preempted Usagi’s protest irritably. “I know, I know, you have some kind of fling going on with him, but if he’s also after the Crystal the same as we are, and we don’t even know why, it may turn out that this is an ‘enemy of my enemy is my friend’ situation, and once the Dark Kingdom is no longer in the picture, he’ll turn on you.”

“No way…!” Usagi protested with a whine, though Ami and Luna were nodding and even she thought Rei’s logic made sense.

Rei shrugged.

Ami picked up the thread of the conversation. “I did some research online, and it appears the first reports of jewelry store break-ins and sightings of Tuxedo Mask occurred around August of last year.”

Rei pointed at Usagi with her fork as she prepared to take another bite of her tart. “And when did you and Luna meet?”

“Umm…” Usagi leaned over to exchange a look with Luna. “Sometime in May? Definitely after the Golden Week holiday.”

“So Tuxedo Mask and the Dark Kingdom had at least a half-year head start and found nothing.” Rei’s fig and maple tart looked really good and Usagi was so distracted by wishing she’d ordered that that she almost couldn’t concentrate. “The mystery of what Tuxedo Mask wants with the Crystal we can put aside for now, but the Dark Kingdom wants it to… what? Take over the world?”

“Super cliched but that’s kind of what it sounds like.” Usagi contented herself with her berry tart and her mango and almond jelly tart.

“And Luna wants the Crystal because…?”

Luna’s ears perked up. “All I can say for certain is that the Silver Moon Crystal is the key to regaining my lost memories, and that we cannot under any circumstances let the Dark Kingdom get their hands on it. It may indeed be what we need to defeat them for good.”

Rei steepled her fingers. “There’s also the fact it’s called the Silver ‘Moon’ Crystal. I still get the strong impression that Usagi, as the first of us that Luna met and the one whose power is connected to the moon, is the key.”

“Me?”

“Today’s your birthday, right? That makes you a Cancer, which is ruled by the moon.” Rei pointed out.

“One of the birthstones for June is the moonstone,” Ami added.

Usagi leaned over to the side again to look at her cat companion. “Lunaaa, tell them they’re being silly. It’s just a coincidence, right?”

Rei gave her the most skeptical look she could muster. “A coincidence? Really? Just like it’s a coincidence you met both of us just before we were awakened to our abilities to become these… Sailor Guardians? Sailor Soldiers?”

“Magical girls,” Usagi supplied.

“You’re really stuck on that wording, aren’t you?”

“But we are!”

Rei rolled her eyes. “Anyway, Moon, Mercury, Mars,” she pointed to each of them in turn. “What’s the pattern?”

Ami’s blueberry tart looked pretty good too. (Focus, Usagi). She took a sip from her tea before answering, “I suppose the two most apparent commonalities are that they’re all heavenly bodies and that all three start with ‘m’.”

“If it were heavenly bodies, why is there no Sailor Sun?” Rei wondered.

“That’s what I was thinking!” Usagi exclaimed.

“You also want your internet idol to be included,” Luna pointed out sardonically.

“Sailor V would be a great addition. She’s already a ‘Sailor’ after all, amirite?!”

“Anyway,” Rei said again with emphasis, “can we reasonably expect there will be more Sailor Guardians in our future or are we it?”

Luna gave a cat-shrug. “I honestly can’t say either way. But now that Jadeite knows your face, Rei, we’ll have to be extra careful from here on. He’s already let us know that the queen of the Dark Kingdom has ordered Usagi to be killed, it’s safe to assume that order extends to you girls, as well as to myself.”

“Do you know anything about this queen?” Rei asked.

Luna shook her head. “Although, the thought of her fills me with a foreboding that tells me she’s involved somehow with my missing memories.”

“Like you instinctively remember her as a formidable foe, even if the details are lost to you at the moment?”

Luna nodded at Rei’s query. “Quite so.”

“I think,” Ami wrapped her hands around her tea cup, “what we need to focus on is finding the Crystal. If Tuxedo Mask and the Dark Kingdom searched jewelry stores for half a year and found no sign of it, a change in tactics seems warranted. If we can assume that our enemies will come to us, and we have no reason to go to them without the Crystal, it’s best to remain on the defensive for now.”

Rei nodded slowly. “That seems wise.”

“But I can’t for the life of me think of where to even begin searching,” Ami admitted with a sigh.

“Same,” Usagi popped a bite of tart crust into her mouth.

Rei and Luna frowned and went ‘hmm…’ in near unison.

Coming up with ideas proved to be harder than any of them expected. Eventually, and with no ideas to show for it, they’d finished their tarts and tea (and cat treats) and the wait staff were politely side-eyeing them as a subtle hint to leave. With no particular plans for what to do next, they wandered the area, checking out the fancy shops and chatting about this and that. It was late in the afternoon when they passed a little gelato stand set up in the shade outside one of the too-expensive-to-look-at high-fashion shops.

The clerk had impossibly long, straight black hair and make-up that looked so perfect you’d hardly believe the temperature was still well over thirty degrees centigrade. She leaned her elbows on the counter space next to the register and called out to them, “Can I interest you ladies in some real Italian-style gelato? It’s perfect for a day like today. We’re giving away free samples to advertise a new shop opening in July.”

“Ooh, that sounds really good!” Usagi squealed excitedly and trotted over to look at the different flavours in the display case.

Rei and Ami hung back suspiciously.

“Free gelato? Something doesn’t feel right...”

“On the other hand, every one of Jadeite’s agents that we’ve encountered was always wearing something that was a distinct shade of red.” Ami said slowly.

“Oh,” Rei furrowed her brow. “She’s not wearing any red. Am I just being paranoid?”

“Perhaps?” Ami smiled wanly. “I’m sure we’re all feeling that way.”

Rei ruefully put her hands on her pockets and nodded in Usagi’s direction. “Not so much one of us, maybe.”

Ami laughed. “Just think of it as positive thinking.”

“For you or for her?” Rei shrugged. “Anyway, let’s get some gelato.”

The sales clerk gave them a smile as they approached. “The first scoop is free, every scoop after that is 100 yen. Every free scoop enters you for a chance to win a number of prizes. Plus it’s really hot today.”

Rei was still slightly wary. “Where did you say this new shop was opening?”

“Just inside here. You see where it’s blocked off between Chanel and the jewelry department?”

There certainly were white construction barriers and a “coming soon” sign up where she pointed. Rei set her paranoia aside and glanced at the flavours on offer. “I’ll take a lemon one, please.”

Ami ordered pistachio, curious to know how it tasted, and Usagi had already gotten strawberry.

“How do we know if we’ve won?” Usagi asked the clerk.

The clerk tapped the stack of serving cups on the counter next to her elbow with one shimmering blue-painted nail. “The answer is hiding under your gelato.”

“For real?!” Usagi impatiently began eating faster.

Rei shook her head. “You’re going to give yourself brain freeze.”

Usagi ignored her and scraped up the rest of her gelato to reveal… “G!” written at the bottom.

“The G prize? Okay, let’s see…” the clerk reached down below the counter and came up with an envelope. “Here you go! A coupon for 5000 yen off any purchase at the stores inside. Congratulations!”

Usagi took the envelope dubiously. “Thanks. Not sure I can afford anything in here on my allowance but maybe mom will like it.”

Ami was the next to finish her gelato. She showed the clerk the bottom of her cup to reveal the letter, “B.”

“Ooh!” The clerk clapped her hands and came up with another envelope, “Congratulations! The B prize is an invitation to a gorgeous opening celebration party on the Tokyo Bay Sunset Dinner Cruise!”

“What?!”  
“Really?!”  
“Oh!”

Ami took the envelope with doubt on her face. “A party? I don’t know…”

“Holy crap, if that’s the B prize, what’s A?” Usagi asked.

“A trip for two to Hawaii,” the clerk informed her with a cheerful smile. Usagi just stared at her in response. Roppongi Hills was on a whole other level.

Luckily she was saved from trying to think of something cool to say by Rei reaching the bottom of her gelato cup and saying, “Oh,” in faint surprise. Upon Usagi’s insistence, she turned her cup to the side to show…

“Another B prize!” the clerk held out her envelope with the party invite, “Congratulations.”

“Aww…” Usagi pouted, “I’m jealous. But at least this way you don’t have to go by yourself, Ami!”

“Even so…” Ami fiddled with her envelope. “Parties aren’t really for me. Would you consider trading, Usagi?”

“Whaaat?” Usagi looked conflicted. “But… it’s your prize, you should go…”

The clerk looked between them, then surreptitiously peered up and down the street and inside the building before methodically pulling up all the little empty gelato cups on the counter. “Tell you what…” she said with a wink, finally coming across the cup she was looking for and holding it out to show the ‘B’ written at the bottom. “I like you girls, so we’ll just pretend this was yours and you can all go together.”

“Huh?” Usagi said without thinking.

“Are you sure?” Rei asked.

“Is that okay?” Ami asked at the same time.

“Yeah, I’ll give the coupon to someone who doesn’t get a prize so it all evens out and no one will be the wiser. You girls go to the party and have fun. You might even meet some cute rich guys, who knows, right?”

Usagi sheepishly traded envelopes with the clerk. “Well, uh, if you say so…”

Looked like the three of them were going on a dinner cruise…

 

...that weekend, anyway. It was still Usagi’s birthday, and after they left Roppongi Hills, she parted ways with Rei, who had shrine duties, and Ami, who had cram school, to meet Naru and her friends at the game center to hang out. She skipped down the street and checked Instagram for birthday messages as she went. Since she wasn’t watching where she was going, it was inevitable she would eventually collide directly with someone and stumble, falling hard on her knees as she scrambled to save her phone. “Owww…”

“Careful, Bun, watch where you’re going!”

Oh great. As if scraping her knees wasn’t bad enough. “Mamoru…” she muttered.

He offered her a hand. “Surprised you didn’t bounce back up.”

She turned her nose up at his offer and limped lamely to her feet on her own. “Is that some sort of an attempt at a pun on my name, _again_?”

Mamoru gave her a sunny grin that proved her right. She scoffed and took a step away from him, wincing as the action sent stinging pain radiating through her legs. Still, she thought to herself ruefully, as Sailor Moon she’d done much worse to herself, what with all the being thrown around and through things and slammed against things and so, so much choking…

Of course, Mamoru didn’t know that.

His offered hand was still hovering in the air and the awkwardness of it was starting to bleed into the air in juxtaposition with Usagi’s scraped knees. Thankfully they were saved by Naru.

“Usagi~!” She joined them and immediately took the brunt of the weird silence. “Um. What happened?”

“Someone was walking and texting.” Mamoru pointed at Usagi’s freshly grated knees.

Naru took one look and gasped. “Oh no! Let’s stop at my place for some band-aids. I’ll send Yumiko a message letting her know we’ll be late.”

“Sure you don’t need any help?” asked Mamoru, his hand still just hanging out, neglected.

“I’m fine,” Usagi lied and nearly sank back to the ground on her bold next step. Why did it always feel like shallow cuts hurt the most? Tears leaked unbidden from her eyes even as she sucked in a breath to try and keep up appearances.

Mamoru and Naru exchanged looks and were equally less than inclined to believe her. Mamoru took one decisive step forward and unceremoniously collected Usagi into his arms. She squawked in surprise but he ignored her to instead confirm with Naru, “You live above the jewelry store, yeah?”

“Yeah, follow me.”

“Put me down!” Usagi demanded, her face turning progressively more red under her tears as the embarrassment set in. She hated that she recognized the scent of his body soap from the festival the previous evening… and thought it was nice. It wasn’t nearly so nice though when Mayumi looked up as they entered the shop and in rapidfire asked, “My, what happened, Usagi? Did you fall again? And who’s this dashing gentleman? Does he like older women?”

Naru rolled her eyes at the last question. “Mom, stop. This is our friend, Mamoru.”

“Speak for yourself,” Usagi mumbled.

“We’re just getting some band-aids for Usagi’s knees then going to the game center for some birthday cake,” Naru ignored her and finished explaining.

Mayumi seemed to accept this and wished Usagi a happy birthday, insinuated that it already was, and, much to Usagi’s chagrin, winked in Mamoru’s direction. She tried to convince herself that her heart was beating rapidly out of insult and outrage and filled her head with thoughts of Tuxedo Mask to remind her who she really loved. Oh, oh, and once she endured this torture she was going to meet Motoki.♡

“You know what’s funny, Usagi?” Naru said thoughtfully as she helped band-aid one knee while Usagi took care of the other. “It feels like not too long ago you’d be crying buckets right now.” She paused, handed Usagi a tissue for her existing tears and clarified, “I mean like, actual loud pity-me-in-all-my-melodrama buckets.”

It was true, now that Naru mentioned it. Usagi hated that she’d promised Luna to keep the whole Sailor Moon thing a secret and had to bite her lip to keep from blurting it all out. Instead she tried to laugh it off, “Well, I am fourteen now. I guess even I’ve grown up a little bit.”

Was it her imagination or did Naru avoid her gaze a little as she put the band-aid wrappers in the trash. “I guess.”

“That said, I want cake. Lots of it.”

Naru giggled. “Let’s go before Motoki and Yumiko eat it all.”

“They wouldn’t dare!”

“You never know~!” Naru laughed and ran for the stairs, “Maybe I’ll go help out!”

“Hey, wait! You can’t take advantage of my injury like that! I need sugar to heal!”

Mamoru, all but forgotten in the cake discussion shook his head and followed Usagi as she hobbled down the stairs. “I don’t think the human body works that way.”

 

For not the first time, nor, Luna suspected, the last time either, Usagi looked down at her and asked, “Are you sure I can’t use the disguise pen to dress up?”

“That’s not what it’s for,” Luna reminded her testily.

“What’s the point of having a magic disguise pen if I can’t use it to dress up?”

Luna sighed and ignored her. Usagi looked perfectly fine in the party dress she was wearing. So what if it wasn’t high fashion? She was saved when at that moment Rei and Ami could be seen leaving the train station. 

Rei looked surprised to see them. “You’re early?”

Luna sighed again. “She was so excited for the cruise we got here half an hour ago.”

“What kind of fancy food do you think they’ll serve us?” Usagi asked with stars in her eyes. “I spent the whole train ride over here looking up fancy Italian food on my phone. I feel like my whole Saizeriya life has been a lie!”

“Saize…?” Ami looked perplexed.

Rei shook her head. “Even you must have realized that a low-priced family restaurant isn’t going to live up to the real thing?”

“But they have wine and stuff!”

“Yeah, cheap wine!”

“How am I supposed to know that?!” Usagi stuck her tongue out at her.

Rei chose not to rise to the bait and glanced at her watch, hanging off her wrist on a delicate rose-gold chain. Everything Rei wore looked elegant. Usagi was so jealous. “It’s almost time to start boarding, let’s go.”

“I wonder if the lady who sold us gelato will be here somewhere…?” Usagi wondered as they joined the line of people at the boarding dock.

“I doubt it,” Rei said.

“She was probably just hired help and not a part of the company,” Ami explained.

“I hope she didn’t get in trouble for rigging the contest for me.”

“Probably no one found out, don’t worry.”

At the top of the ramp leading onto the ship, a tall member of the crew in crisp white trousers and a black-edged poppy-red jacket handed them the evening’s itinerary.

“When do we eat?” Usagi demanded immediately.

“Looks like first there’s a greeting from the company owners and a toast, with some hor d'oeuvres…” Ami summarized aloud, “followed by the dinner, then time to mingle for the rest of the cruise with some free gelato samples and a viewing of the Italian owner’s antique jewelry collection including the rare… ‘Pietra di Luna’ diamond.”

“Luna?” Usagi looked down at the cat.

Ami was already checking her phone. “It means ‘moonstone’ in Italian.”

“So is it a moonstone or a diamond?” Rei raised her eyebrows.

“I’m not sure, there’s no picture on the itinerary.”

“So Luna means ‘moon’?” All three of her companions stared at Usagi for a long moment. “What? Anyway, do you think this ‘petri dish Luna’ could be the Silver Moon Crystal?”

“Petri…” Rei almost called Usagi out on her malapropism but Ami beat her by answering normally,

“I suppose it could be?”

“We’d have to get a good look at it,” Rei surmised. “Or at least, Luna would.”

“Gee, that sounds like it would be pretty hard for regular guests like us, huh?”

Luna quickly guessed where Usagi was about to go with this. “You brought it with you, didn’t you?”

Usagi giggled maniacally and withdrew the disguise pen from her handbag. “I thought, you know, just in case…?”

“You’re incorrigible,” Luna gave her heaviest sigh yet that evening.

“Why, thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

“In any case,” Ami quickly stepped in to be peacemaker. “Let’s just enjoy ourselves for now. There’s no point in disguising yourself and investigating until after you’ve had dinner, right?”

“Right, the dinner! Thanks Ami, I would have totally forgotten. I already promised Naru I’d put all the courses on Instagram for her to see!”

 

The dinner was everything Usagi had dreamed of and more. At first Rei was embarrassed about her taking photos from multiple angles of every dish, but then she realized Usagi was hardly the only person doing so and went with it. There was an antipasto course with different meats and cheeses, a rich parmesan, pesto, and cherry tomato risotto for the first course, followed by roast chicken with summer vegetables for the second, then two dessert courses, the first a fruit salad served with a vibrant balsamic vinaigrette, and the second a variety of cakes and cannoli carefully selected to accompany the sponsor company’s many types of gelato.

“I know we’ve only just met, Usagi, but I get the feeling your whole life revolves around food,” Rei commented as they finished the last course and Usagi was busy selecting Instagram filters.

“The world is full of delicious things, what can I say?”

Rei shot Ami an unimpressed look but Ami just shrugged. Before she could make any further comment, there was a blip as the sound system turned on and a woman in a sleek cocktail dress stepped up to the podium at the head of the room to address the party-goers.

“Hey, isn’t that…?” Rei trailed off in surprise.

“Oh, so it is,” Ami caught on immediately.

“Huh?” Usagi looked up from her phone and her eyes doubled in size. “It’s Gelato Lady!”

“Good evening everyone, and thank you so much for joining us on this occasion,” Gelato Lady addressed the diners. “I’ll be taking over MC duties from here. Anyone who is finished eating is welcome to join us in Event Hall B for drinks, mingling, and an exclusive look at Lady Esposito’s antique jewelry collection, all with a gorgeous view of the harbour sunset.”

“That’s my cue!” Usagi said excitedly, popping one last full scoop of gelato in her mouth and swallowing it so quickly she had to give herself a brief second to recover from the brain freeze.

“Have you decided what you’ll disguise yourself as?” Ami asked.

“A staff member?” Rei suggested.

Luna shook her head. “If the diamond is a valuable antique, I’m sure only certain staff members are allowed to handle it.”

Usagi practically glowed with pride. “I already know exactly what my disguise will be. Didn’t you notice all the people with press passes when we came on board?”

“Oh, good idea.”

“You don’t have to sound that surprised, you know, Rei.” Usagi pouted. She got to her feet and picked up her handbag. “I’ll go change in the washroom, check out the Luna Diamond, un-disguise myself, and report back to you guys.” She gave a confident thumbs up and a wink and headed off to the washrooms. “Won’t take a second!”

“...” Luna sighed. “I better go with her.”

 

Usagi slipped into the ladies’ washroom and quietly checked to make sure all the stalls were empty. Once she was certain she was alone, she took the disguise pen out of her handbag and held it aloft.

“Moon power…! Turn me into a smart, successful, and all-around badass freelance reporter!”

Luna shook her head, even as the pen’s answering sparkles filled the room. “Do we really need so many adjectives?”

Usagi reappeared in the suitable disguise, with her hair collected in a single, artfully messy bun atop her head and thick-framed glasses offset by no-nonsense matte nude lipstick. She was wearing a navy suit jacket open over a plain white t-shirt with a press pass clipped to the left pocket, a patterned scarf wrapped loosely around her neck, and sleek charcoal trousers that tapered and were cut just above her ankles. She looked totally smart, successful, and all-around badass. She was also wearing pretty high heels; she hoped she wouldn’t have to do any running in this disguise.

As always, the pen had thoughtfully provided her with a vehicle for Luna, this time a camera bag that was perfectly cat-sized. Together they slipped out of the washroom and walked right into a member of the cruise staff. Usagi squawked and nearly toppled off her high heels, only for the staff member to catch her by the arm and say in a friendly, familiar voice,

“Whoops, careful! Sorry about that.”

Usagi was so surprised she made it all the way to “Ma-” before she caught herself and didn’t say his name out loud. Even so, Mamoru looked at her curiously so she quickly fumbled to cover her almost-mistake with, “Ma- Ma- Maaaaiiiii uh, My mistake! I should have watched where I was going! Ah ha ha!” What the heck was Mamoru doing there? He was wearing a staff uniform so… a part-time job? Of all places of all the times? What were the chances?!

“No worries,” Mamoru waved it off. “I’m just glad I caught you before you fell.”

“Yeah, uh, thanks for that…”

In the awkward beat of silence that followed, Mamoru looked more closely at her. “Um… have we met?”

“Huh?” Usagi took a wobbly step back. “I don’t think so? You must have me mistaken for someone else!”

“Hm…” He glanced at her press pass, “You seem awfully young for a reporter?”

“You seem awfully young for working on a cruise ship.”

“It’s a part-time job, I’m just here to help serve guests at the gelato event,” he dryly countered her failed attempt at countering his point.

“S-Speaking of which, I have important, um, reporting to do. On the event. So like, if you will excuse me…” She quickly-as-she-could headed away from him and towards where she could hear people talking. Once she felt she was safely out of hearing range, she muttered more to herself than to Luna, “That was weird…”

“At least we know the disguise works?” Luna pointed out.

“Mostly. I think he almost realized it was me.”

 

Meanwhile, Mamoru watched Usagi disappear into the event hall and pulled Sailor Moon’s hairclip from his pocket. He turned it over in his hand thoughtfully. “Pretty sure that was her…”

 

Usagi entered the event hall and caught the eye of Ami and Rei to give them a wink. She held her camera at the ready and began weaving through the crowd towards the front of the room, where Gelato Lady was just about to unveil the jewelry collection.

As she passed by, Rei said in a low voice, “Careful, I have a bad feeling all of a sudden…”

Luna peeked out of the camera bag and nodded. “Same.”

“Oh, it’ll be fine. We’ll just get Luna to check if it’s the Silver Moon Crystal or not, and if it is, we’ll plan from there, if not, I’ll just change back, eat some more yummy gelato, and we can chill for the rest of the cruise. Nothing is going to happen...” Usagi waved their worries off and turned her camera towards the front of the room. “Uh-oh.”

“What?”

“Um. I take it all back. Things are very bad and we should leave now.”

“What’re you…?” Rei stood a little taller and peered over the crowd towards the front of the room to try and see what had caused Usagi’s shift in attitude. “Oh.”

“What is it?” Ami stood on her toes to try and see as well.

Rei quickly pulled her back down and hissed. “Jadeite.”

“Honestly, look at him. Guy makes no effort to actually disguise himself at all,” Usagi scoffed.

Sure enough, as Ami finally saw through a gap in the crowd, Jadeite was standing at the front of the room behind the jewelry display, his only disguise one of the white navy-influenced uniforms of the cruise ship’s crew.

“He must be here to investigate the diamond, too,” Luna surmised.

Usagi gasped. “Gelato Lady might be in danger!”

“Why would she be in danger?” Rei scoffed.

“No, she’s right,” Ami said gravely, “the enemy has shown a pattern recently of simultaneously stealing energy from normal people that just happen to get involved.”

“Like at Ami’s cram school,” Usagi nodded.

“Yes.”

“Okay, I see your point.”

“In any case, we have to get a close look at the diamond before he does,” Luna said.

“And make sure that he doesn’t see Rei’s here.”

“I’m not afraid of him.”

“You’re not?!” Usagi looked at Rei in horror.

“Even so,” Ami explained patiently, “we don’t want him to go on the offensive and put the people here in further danger.”

“So our plan is crystal-check, then get the heck outta here?” Usagi confirmed.

“The plan is crystal-check, then keep a low profile and only act if people are put in danger,” Luna corrected her.

“Works for me.”

The words had barely left Usagi’s mouth when several things happened at once.

Gelato Lady announced the main attraction of the jewelry display and pulled a velvet cover off the main display case to reveal an elaborate antique necklace in old, tarnished silver with an eye-catching every-so-slightly-pink diamond pendant and several moonstones. There was a swishing noise and an outcry from the frontmost members of the audience, who scrambled back to reveal a long-stem rose standing at an angle where it had embedded in the carpet. Usagi managed to get out a single syllable of his name before Tuxedo Mask himself swooped out of seemingly nowhere to knock the glass case off the necklace. Jadeite had barely enough time to spat out half the word “You!” before Tuxedo Mask smirked at him and pushed past Gelato Lady to disappear down the service corridor behind her.

It took until Luna shouted, “The Crystal!” for Usagi to recover from the initial shock and give chase with a, “Hey!”

She scrambled down the hall, glad she was in disguise because Gelato Lady and barely-disguised Jadeite were not far behind her. She desperately wanted to stop and rescue her slowly dying toes and just run barefoot but couldn’t risk Jadeite getting to Tuxedo Mask before she had a chance to let Luna investigate the diamond for herself.

That said, why would Tuxedo Mask just steal it like that?

Sure, everyone called him a jewel thief but he never actually stole anything. Wasn’t that supposed to be how it worked?

Ahead of her, his cape whipped around a corner and she heard a hollow metal clang as the door to the outside deck was flung open. She nearly toppled off her heels as she followed suit and skid to a stop to turn wildly about trying to determine which way he’d gone.

Suddenly she was lifted off her feet and propelled into the air. Usagi swiveled her head around to meet Tuxedo Mask’s eyes through his mask as he carried her to one of the higher decks and set her carefully down on her feet.

“Wh-What’re you doing?” she blurted out.

“I saw Jadeite there and knew I had to get to the diamond before he did,” he quickly explained. He placed the necklace carefully in her hand and closed her fingers gently over it under his own. “It wasn’t what I’m looking for. You can return it if it’s not what you want either.”

“What are you looking for?” she asked, well aware in the moment that she should have asked before.

He shrugged. “I’ll know when I find it.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Nothing since we met makes sense.”

That seemed like a fair point. Usagi looked down at the necklace in her hands. Somehow she didn’t need Luna to tell her it wasn’t what they were looking for either.

While she wasn’t looking, Tuxedo Mask swiftly stepped closer and she felt his hands brush past her hair. He was so close all she could really see was the design of the gem pinning his cape to his shoulder and smell the faint… familiar… scent of his body soap…

His hands left her hair and she reached up to see what he’d done, finding one of her feathered hair pins from when she was Sailor Moon pinned to her bun. “Huh?”

“You need to be more careful with your accessories, Little Cosplayer,” Tuxedo Mask said fondly with a boyish grin.

Wait. Suddenly all she could hear was the beating of her own heart. Where could she have lost it? The only possible place she could think of was in the fight at the shrine… but Tuxedo Mask hadn’t shown up then. Instead she’d been saved by a different mystery protector. Right? So how could he have…?

Wait.

Wait.

She was on the verge of… something. She mentally struggled to grasp at it, like the key piece of the puzzle was just barely out of reach and the more she tried to grab it the more her fingertips pushed it back. There was something… something…

Something seemed so familiar and yet different…

Almost like… 

Almost as if… they’d done something like this before...

“Hey!” Jadeite’s voice cut sharply through the air and ruined all chance of Usagi grasping hold of her realisation before it could fully form.

Usagi spun around to see him standing on the same deck they were on a short distance away, with Gelato Lady, she assumed as hostage. That was pretty low.

Usagi waved the necklace in the air and stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re not getting near this!”

“I’ve already been near it, idiot. I know it’s not the Silver Moon Crystal. We knew you’d show up to check it out and were lying in wait. You fell right into our trap.”

Usagi bristled at this. “Okay, but like, no need to be rude about it? At least I know that swapping one uniform for another doesn’t count as a disguise!”

Jadeite sputtered and Gelato Lady tried to hide a smirk behind her hand.

“At least transform before engaging in a battle of wits, would you?” Luna commented dryly.

“Right,” Usagi pulled out her brooch and activated the sparkles. “ _Moon Prism Power! Make Up!_ ”

Once she was successfully Sailor Moon again, and a quick check had confirmed she had both feathered hairclips firmly in place, Usagi struck a pose and addressed Jadeite with far more confidence than she actually had, a skill she was proud to have picked up with more-or-less success. “You might have been right that I’d come to investigate the Luna necklace, but if you even try and hurt Gelato Lady or any of the other people here, in the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!”

Jadeite looked about to retort with some kind of comeback when he was preempted by a voice from the deck below calling out,

“Mercury Aqua Mist!”

As the ensuing frigid fog descended and obscured everything from vision, there was the swish of fabric and the clacking of shoes on the deck, plus what sounded like a scuffle. Usagi was about to take a step forward to enter the fray when Tuxedo Mask reached out and took her hand to firmly but gently hold her back.

“Something doesn’t seem right,” he said quietly in her ear. “There’s more to this trap than just waiting for you to take the necklace.”

“He’s right,” Luna agreed, watching Ami’s mist suspiciously as it began to clear. When it did, it revealed Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars had rescued Gelato Lady from Jadeite, and were standing protectively with her roughly halfway between Jadeite and where Usagi, Luna, and Tuxedo Mask were, leaving them all in a sort of triangular stand-off formation.

“Sailor Moon, did you check out the diamond?” Rei asked.

Usagi stooped down to show Luna just to make extra sure. Luna shook her head, confirming she was right. “Not what we’re looking for!” Standing back up she pointed accusingly at Jadeite. “He already knew it and was waiting for us to show up!”

Jadeite smirked. He was up to something, she just knew it. “And show up you did.”

Sure enough, he snapped his fingers and several doors along the deck they were on burst open. Multiple youma in red staff jackets advanced eagerly upon them from within.

Usagi squeaked and took a step back. “Are all the staff youma?” She gasped. “Wait, no, I saw someone I know earlier. I hope he’s okay!”

“Huh?” Tuxedo Mask sucked in a short, audible breath.

“What?” Usagi asked.

His face was all the harder to read for the mask covering his eyes. “I-I’m sure he’s fine…” He noticed Luna’s ear twitch out of the corner of his eye and hastily added, “I mean, they can’t all have been youma, right? That would be suspicious and what about the crew? Who would be driving the ship?”

Usagi shrugged. “You’re probably right. Still, I hope he doesn’t run into any trouble or anything.”

“All the more reason to defeat them quickly,” Luna advised.

“Right.” Usagi stood a little straighter and looked around. Her eyes landed on Jadeite’s former hostage, standing close behind Rei. “First we should get her to safety!”

Man, now that she got a good look at her, Gelato Lady didn’t seem all that scared. If it were Usagi she would be crying by this point. She certainly wouldn’t have had the inner strength to just hang around after being saved or like, laugh at her earlier jab at Jadeite’s (lack of) disguise skills and...

Hold on.

Ami seemed to have caught on at the same time, turning towards Gelato Lady just in time to shout for Rei to get out of the way. Gelato Lady laughed and jumped back from the two Sailor Guardians, holding a ball of energy ready to attack.

However, before she could, it was knocked from her hand to dissipate harmlessly in the air. Usagi’s quick-thinking tiara cut an arc through the air to return to her hand, and she replaced it on her forehead with an indignant frown. “Seriously, Gelato Lady?! I don’t even know your name and I still feel betrayed!”

Gelato Lady smirked. “So you were one of the guests. I knew making sure mostly teenaged girls won the dinner cruise was a good plan. I wonder if you’re the three idiots who happily fell for it even when I rigged the prize draw right in front of you.”

“Urk,” Usagi grimaced.

“Hm, we’ll need to be more careful from now on.” Ami put her chin on her fist and pondered, mentally filing all this information away for future reference, “If she’d made us register our names and addresses for the contest they would have very easily gotten our true identities…”

Gelato Lady and Jadeite exchanged glances.

“Never thought of that.”  
“Let’s keep that in mind.”

“At least,” Gelato Lady added, as she shed her human disguise and reverted back to her true form as Titus, “keep it in mind for any _future_ problems that arise. These children will be taken care of today. Get them!”

“Eep,” Usagi squeaked, taking a step back from the multiple youma that followed Titus’ order.

Rei was the first to react, widening her stance and clasping her hands together to will forward the words. Her paper charms would only work to a certain extent, there must be something she could do… something similar to Ami and Usagi’s attacks. She sensed the power coursing through her and followed the thread to the words she needed.

“Fire Soul!!”

The flames surged from her fingertips and overwhelmed a number of the youma. She put her back to Ami’s and asked, “Mercury, what is that woman? Is she a type of youma? She seems different from the girl at the festival.”

“I don’t know,” Ami admitted, “We’ve never encountered one who retained their senses after shedding their human disguise.” She tapped on her visor and took a moment to read the AR display. “The readings I’m getting indicate she’s not a youma, but not exactly human either.”

Rei took a moment to mentally process this and came up with the question, “Wait, does Jadeite read as human?”

“Inconclusive, but the readings seem to indicate he might be?”

“Who would have guessed?” Rei scoffed.

“Maybe the computer just doesn’t have a classification for ‘scum’?” Usagi theorized from where she stood.

“Mouthy little brats, aren’t they?” Titus commented to Jadeite.

“Let’s just kill them already.”

“My pleasure,” Titus waved her hand in a come-hither motion at the railing of the cruise ship, and a column of sunset-tinted ocean water rose into view. It would have made an awesome picture if any of them had the presence to mind to take one (though it did cross Usagi’s mind).

Titus let the column hang in the air just long enough for maximum dramatic effect, then motioned it forward to attack with a smug, “Playtime’s over, little girls.”

The Sailor Guardians, Luna, and Tuxedo Mask all leaped out of the way, which put all of them in close proximity of the youma. The ensuing melee appeared to go nowhere for a long time until finally, the three girls plus Tuxedo Mask slowly began to gain the upper hand.

That is, until any time Titus came in with her water attacks. She was definitely more attack-oriented than Ami, and since they were on a ship, she had an endless supply of water from the surrounding ocean. Usagi cried out in pain as a column of water slammed her hard into the wall, and it ended abruptly in a choke as Jadeite quickly followed it to pick her up by a fistful of her collar and drag her up and off her feet to slam her into the wall again. “ _Gak_!”

“Today, finally, I can present your head to Queen Beryl,” he snarled.

Usagi could only manage to garble out an incoherent response before he leaned closer and hissed, “But first I’ll beat you down and make you watch as I sink this ship and every last living person on it so the last thing you see is the stark proof of your own failure.”

Usagi gasped involuntarily, even though he was holding her so tight against the wall it was hard to breathe. A flash of Mamoru’s surprised face cut across her mind. He and all the other people on this ship had nothing to do with anything. Jadeite’s willingness to involve innocent people was escalating. Her outrage at this lit a fire within her that set her whole body tingling. Not on her watch!

Usagi grit her teeth and released her futile hold on Jadeite’s wrists to instead return the favour and snatch a fistfull of his jacket just below the collar. Before he could catch on to what she was doing, she used his torso as leverage to propel her knee up to connect square against his chin. Jadeite’s head snapped back and pain radiated from her (still scraped under all the glitter glamour) knee both down to her ankle and up her thighs, but he still kept hold of her. Usagi compacted her body further to walk her other leg up and shove the heel of her boot against his cheek. He may be stronger, but she had more leverage now. Maybe. That seemed to involve more physics than she was capable of thinking through. But to the truth of the matter was, despite the murderous look he fixed her with out of the corner of his eye, the harder she pushed the more she could feel his grip coming loose.

Time seemed to hang suspended between them for a long, long heartbeat of a moment before finally his grip on her came free and they fell apart. Usagi hit the ground hard enough she could already see the bruise it was going to leave on her butt. Jadeite had a split lip. The blood from which stained his white glove an angry red as he wiped it from his chin.

Usagi scrambled to get to her feet before he could, one of her dazzling platinum pigtails tumbling over her shoulder as she braced against the wall to steady herself. “I won’t let you hurt a single person on this ship, Jadeite!”

He sneered mockingly at her. “What is it you always say? You’ll punish me in the name of the moon? You think any punishment _you_ can hand out scares me in the least?” Behind his sneer, Usagi could see something else… a terror that sent chilly tendrils of unnamed second-hand apprehension climb up her spine. His voice rose, and almost cracked, “You think anything you can do even _compares_ to what awaits me if I fail?”

“I--” Her mind was a blank. What did one say to that? Jadeite frightened her beyond belief, she couldn’t imagine what kind of abomination stood in the darkness perpetually looming behind him.

With a burst of flame, Rei sent Jadeite scrambling away from Usagi and stepped protectively between them. 

Ami ran over and tapped the side of her head to close her AR visor. “Sailor Moon, I ran a computer simulation that suggests we should be able to combine our powers into one, powerful attack concentrated on a single enemy.”

Usagi looked around, snapping to the decision, “Right, let’s use it on Gelato Lady.”

Rei nodded. “Good idea, she’s the one with the most range.”

“I’ll handle Jadeite and the youma in the meantime,” Tuxedo Mask offered from where he stood.

The girls nodded at him and turned to face Titus, who scoffed. She stood tall atop the guardrail and curled her fingers skyward, beckoning two columns of seawater to rise into the air. By now the sky behind her was a blend of red and indigo, forebodingly bleeding into each other behind the rippling waves of her long, black hair.

Usagi looked between Ami and Rei, feeling emboldened by their presence. Whatever terrors emerged from the Dark Kingdom in the future, she felt like, together, they could face it. “Let’s do this.”

“Moon Tiara Action!”  
“Mercury Aqua Mist!”  
“Fire Soul!”

The three attacks combined into a shimmering, glittering red disc that sliced right through the twin columns of approaching water, reducing both to steam that followed turbulently in its wake as it continued on to slice right through Titus. Her scream died together with the last of the setting sun as she shattered into a million water drops to shower down on the water of the bay and disappear into the ocean.

As twilight descended around them like a curtain, Tuxedo Mask shoved the last of the youma against the wall where it dissolved to dust at Jadeite’s feet.

Jadeite grit his teeth. He sucked in a breath and it tasted of the blood from his split lip, the same blood that was pounding in his ears, telling him he couldn’t go back empty handed, not this time. There would be no more chances left for him now that he’d cost the Dark Kingdom Titus. He would win here or die trying.

Who was the weak link? Sailor Moon appeared to be, but she had continually subverted his expectations ever since she appeared out of nowhere. Mars? She was the newest, but she seemed hypercompetent. Mercury was the least aggressive but like Moon, seemed like she could fight her way out of a corner. Tuxedo Mask was the only one who didn’t seem to have any sort of magic attack powers…

Maybe he should just sink the whole damn ship…

The tension in the air was just about to snap, when…

“Jadeite.”

His name hung in the air with a finality that seemed to suck all the air from his lungs. His opponents reacting to the voice seemed slowed down, muffled, like they were all moving under water.

“No,” he barely manage to breathe out the words. “I can still…”

“Your imminent failure is clear,” Queen Beryl said coldly. “This was your last chance and I will tolerate your incompetence no more.” From where she sat in her throne room, she sliced one talon-tipped finger through the air and Jadeite was no more.

Languidly she let her hand settle back down on the arm of her throne and looked down her nose at the two generals standing at attention before her. “Now, I trust you two will do a better job of finding the Crystal and handling these Sailor pests… Nephrite, Zoicite.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

 

Back on the cruise ship, Usagi sank to her knees, staring in shock and horror at the spot where Jadeite had been. Ami and Rei exchanged apprehensive looks.

Tuxedo Mask was the first to move, striding forward and stooping down at the spot where Jadeite had suddenly disappeared with a strangled cry.

“What is it?” Luna asked, also coming forward to see.

“It looks like some sort of uncut gem…” The stone fit weirdly familiar in the palm of his hand. He glanced down at Luna as he straightened back up. “Do you mind if I keep it?”

Luna studied what she could see of his face for a long moment. “I don’t see why not. But in exchange, tell me, why are you searching for the Silver Moon Crystal?”

Good question. “Like I told Sailor Moon, I’ll know when I find it.” He glanced over his shoulder with a wan smile. “Lately I’ve been too preoccupied with something more precious to wonder about it, if I’m honest.”

“I’m glad we agree on one thing,” Luna narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ll claw your eyes out if you hurt her.”

“I don’t doubt that.” Tuxedo Mask tipped his hat at her, then turned to address the Sailor Guardians. “Ladies, I must take my leave. ‘Til we meet again.” And with that he disappeared over the upper decks to the other side of the ship.

Usagi sighed and brushed her fingers over her now-returned hairclip. “Such a gentleman...”

“Let’s go return the necklace and make sure the people are okay,” Luna picked up the antique necklace carefully to deposit it in Ami’s waiting hand. “It’s more clear than ever that we need a new plan for how to find the Silver Moon Crystal.”

“I’ll see if I can’t program my visor’s computer to track it or something,” Ami suggested. “But without truly knowing what we’re looking for beyond the name…”

“I understand. I’ll see if I can’t remember some hints.”

“We better come up with something fast. There’s no telling what the Dark Kingdom will throw at us now that Jadeite is gone.”

“At least we don’t have to worry about him knowing your true face anymore,” Usagi suggested.

Rei nodded. “Yeah. But we do have to worry about who will replace him. Logically, they’re going to step up their efforts and send someone stronger next time.”

Usagi shivered. “I don’t wanna think about that right now.”

 

Monday morning saw Usagi scrambling to get to school before the bell. Lately Luna had been pretty good about waking her up in time in the morning (though not nearly as nicely as Usagi thought she could) but she’d spent the night at Ami’s working on the Silver Moon Crystal problem, leaving Usagi to her own devices.

So of course she overslept.

Her lungs burned as she turned the last corner and just barely managed to slide through the gate before the teacher closed it. You’d think all the exercise she got being Sailor Moon would have helped her get in better shape by now.

Oh.

Wait.

She glanced at the clock on the school wall and noted that she’d shaved a whole minute off her previous record time.

Which meant she could have totally gotten another minute’s sleep. Ugh.

But anyway, to class!

As she was taking off her outside shoes, a member of the administrative staff passed her on their way out with a strikingly tall girl dressed in a pale brown and ivory school uniform that Usagi didn’t recognize. In truth, she was in such a hurry she might not even have noticed at all if it weren’t for the tall girl’s pink rose earrings glinting in the sun and catching her eye.

“We’ll see what we can do about the uniform, but in the meantime, you can wear your old uniform when you start classes next week,” the admin staff was saying.

“I appreciate it. Thank you.” The tall girl bowed deeply and turned towards the gate.

Usagi watched her go until the staff member noticed her standing there and cleared her throat. “Shouldn’t you be in class? The bell already rang.”

“Ack!” Usagi slammed her shoebox shut and hopped down the hall to put on her indoor shoes as she went.

The tall girl had been really pretty and seemed nice. A new transfer student, maybe? Usagi hoped she would be in her class.


	8. In All Directions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots and lots of new threads join the party...

“Wait, let me get this straight,” Naru held out a hand to pause Usagi mid-story. “You didn’t have summer school but you still went to school on Monday?”

Usagi blushed. “I-It was force of habit!”

Naru, Yumiko, Kuri, and even Ami started snickering, their shoulders quivering as the laughter built up within them.

Usagi blushed harder. “It was just past 8 on a Monday morning! I was still half-asleep! It was a… a… what’s it called? A parabellum response… or, or something!”

Naru, Yumiko, and Kuri looked to Ami for a translation. “Pavlovian response, you mean?”

“The thing with the dogs, right?” Kuri confirmed.

A smile was already tugging at Ami’s lips as she answered, “Yes,” and sent the other girls minus Usagi into peals of laughter all over again.

Usagi grabbed a cushion off Naru’s bed and threw it at her. “It could happen to anyone!” This only made her friends laugh harder. “It’s not that funny!”

“Yeah, it is,” Yumiko wheezed. “What did Haruna-sensei say?”

Usagi pouted. “She acted like it was hilarious and said I could stay if I wanted to study so badly.”

The laughing intensified.

“Ugh, stoppit!” Usagi threw another cushion that bounced off Naru’s head to flop over and land on Yumiko, who was rolling on the ground in tears. “You guys are jerks!”

Naru gasped for air and wiped at her eyes. “Okay, okay, anyway, what’s this about a new transfer student?”

Usagi bopped her fist against the palm of her other hand. “Right! That was the whole point about why I started talking about Monday. She looked really cool, but I didn’t recognize her uniform. Do you guys know what school has light brown skirts and cream blouses?”

“Nope.”  
“Uhh…”  
“Don’t think so. Ami?”  
“I think I’ve seen the uniform you described, but I’m afraid I don’t know what school it could be from.”

“Aww…” Usagi took a cookie off the plate of snacks set on the floor and nibbled at it contemplatively. “I guess we’ll find out after summer holidays are over.”

“This seems like a weird time to transfer schools,” Yumiko commented as she took Usagi’s lead and helped herself to a cookie.

“Also weird that she came to register by herself, by the sounds of it,” Kuri added.

Naru and Ami, the resident children of single-parent families, both shrugged.

“Speaking of school though,” Ami changed the subject. “Weren’t we meeting today to do our summer homework?”

The other girls all froze at various stages of cookie consumption. They’d almost forgotten Ami was an actual serious student.

Almost.

 

Later that afternoon, Usagi hurried home with a cautious eye on the clouds rolling in. Once inside, she slipped off her sandals and yelled,

“Hey, Moooommm? It looks like rain! There isn’t a typhoon coming or anything is there?”

Ikuko came out of the kitchen and shook her head. “Not a typhoon, although the forecast did say there was a chance of evening thundershowers.”

“Eep.” Usagi shuddered. She hated thunderstorms.

“Anyway I’m glad you’re home,” Ikuko went to her bag and extracted her wallet. “I need you to run to the supermarket for me. We’re out of soy sauce and I could use a few other things. I sent you a list on your phone.”

“Whaaat?” Usagi whined. “But what if it starts storming?”

“Take an umbrella just in case and don’t dawdle.”

“But…!”

“You can buy yourself an ice cream too. Here.” Ikuko handed her some money. Her fate was sealed.

Usagi took it with a reluctant, “Fine. Be right back,” and dragged herself back out into the growing pre-rain humidity.

She walked quickly, pouting all the way and asking bitterly why Shingo couldn’t have gone under her breath. At least she got ice cream out of it, so she made herself feel better by wondering what limited edition flavours were on sale at the moment. This occupied her mind all the rest of the way to the supermarket, which was blissfully air conditioned, and she grabbed a basket on her way in. Let’s see, what did her mom need? Soy sauce, her ice cream, leeks, her ice cream, no wait, the ice cream might melt, she’d have to buy that last…

Might as well hit up the produce section first for the leeks. Usagi wandered down the aisle of veggies on the hunt and stopped short when she spotted none other than the tall girl from school ahead of her. She had a half-full grocery basket at her feet, and was comparing two bags of carrots.

It made Usagi feel a little better to see there was someone else forced to brave the impending rain to pick up groceries along with her. She thought about going up to introduce herself, but then, just barely audible over the tinny instrumental pop song playing on the supermarket’s sound system, she heard the unmistakable sound of thunder. Muttering “nope, nope, nope…” under her breath the whole way, she grabbed the first bag of leeks she saw and rushed for the condiment aisle to grab the soy sauce.

On the way, though, she accidentally bumped a bin of potatoes with her grocery basket and sent a good number of them cascading down to roll all across the floor. Usagi dropped her basket with a strangled “Nooo…!” and scrambled to pick up the fallen potatoes. She paused in surprise as someone handed her one to help out. 

“Here you go.”

Looking up, she saw it was Tall girl. Usagi took the potato with a surprised, “Thank you…”

“Don’t mention it,” Tall girl gracefully stood back up in one smooth motion, then walked off to another part of the store. She must have decided which carrots to get while Usagi was klutzing it up.

Usagi put the potatoes back where they’d come from and scurried off to get the rest of the items on her mother’s list. And her ice cream.

The sky was even darker and the humidity hung thick and stifling in the air when she re-emerged from the supermarket. The rain seemed like it would start any moment now. Usagi shifted the grocery bag onto her wrist and began unwrapping her ice cream as she walked; there was no way it wouldn’t melt before she got home. Better eat it now.

Sure enough, she’d barely been outside a minute and already it was sticking to the wrapper. Usagi frowned in concentration and slowly peel the wrapper off, trying to take as little of the chocolate coating with it as she could. She was so focused she didn’t even notice the light turn red…

“Watch out!”

Usagi squawked as she was lifted off her feet and thrown like a bag of rice over someone’s shoulder just as a red Ferrari went squealing past. She flailed in further surprise, hitting herself in the face with her own ice cream. Her rescuer set her gently down on her feet and thumbed the smudge of chocolate off her cheek.

“It just isn’t your day, is it?”

Usagi tentatively opened her eyes to discover her rescuer was once again Tall girl. “Um, th-thank you… again…” Holy crap. She almost cancelled her earlier wish that they might be in the same class because how embarrassing.

“Bun! Are you alright?!”

As always, Mamoru was right on time to make her day even worse.

He ran over with his bicycle and looked from Usagi to Tall girl. “That was close.”

Tall girl laughed and patted Usagi on the shoulder. “It really was. I think she’s just surprised, though.”

Usagi blinked hard and shook her head to clear her brain. “Yeah, um, wow.” She searched for something to say, then squeaked as the first heavy drop of rain hit her on the nose. Also her ice cream was melting all over her hand. “Ack!” Suddenly she had a more pressing decision to make thrust upon her. Save the ice cream or open her umbrella? Ice cream or umbrella? Ice cream or umbrella?!

Mamoru popped open his umbrella and held it over her head. “Earth to Bun-bun. You don’t want to lose your ice cream, do you?”

“Stop playing with my name, jerk!” She stuck her tongue out at him before turning her attention to her ice cream mess.

Mamoru shook his head at her and addressed Tall girl. “Are you one of Bun’s friends?”

“No, we haven’t properly met, actually,” Tall girl laughed.

Usagi elbowed Mamoru. “My name is _Usagi_.”

Tall girl stuck out her hand. “I’m Ma--”

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Mamoru.” Tall girl’s introduction was interrupted by Motoki jogging over from the supermarket entrance. “Oh, hi, Usagi, and uh…?”

Tall girl blushed and her voice dropped immediately from the cheerful tone it had been to a softer, more shy and quiet one. “M-Makoto…”

“Pleased to meet you, Makoto. I’m Motoki.”

She fiddled with the handle of her eco bag. “Pleased to meet you…”

Mamoru and Usagi exchanged looks despite themselves. Makoto was the very picture of someone who had fallen in love at first sight. It was adorable.

Then Usagi reminded herself that Mamoru was a jerk and went _hmph_ , turning her nose up at him and popping her ice cream bar into her mouth. She then nearly choked on it as thunder rumbled overhead and she gasped involuntarily.

Motoki peered up at the sky through his clear plastic umbrella. “That doesn’t look good. I’d love to hang around and chat but you girls should get home before the storm really hits.”

Mamoru gave Usagi his best mean-spirited smile. “Will you be alright on your own, Little Bun?”

How dare he call her “little” anything? That was Tuxedo Mask’s pet name for her, dammit! Usagi chomped a bite off her ice cream and waved it threateningly at him. “Watch it, or I’ll jam this in your ear!” Another rumble overhead and she winced. “Motoki has a point. I’m outta here.”

“Yeah, thunderstorms don’t bother me, but I’d much rather be at home before it hits.” Makoto gave a little wave and turned to go, “Hope we run into each other again someday.”

On the run home after saying good-bye to Motoki (and, begrudgingly, Mamoru) Usagi passed by the red Ferrari that almost hit her and pouted around her ice cream. Embarrassed or not, she did still hope she could meet Makoto again, too. She really seemed nice, and her shy reaction to Motoki had been super adorable. Next time she’d be sure to exchange contact information with her. Maybe they could hang out at the game center sometime.

 

The summer holidays went by quickly, with Usagi finding it much easier to balance her sleep schedule and searching for the Silver Moon Crystal without pesky school getting in the way. Towards the end of the summer break, she got a message from Naru saying she had a surprise, so she quickly got dressed and headed for the shopping district. She went through the jewelry shop and a smile broke out on her face when she spotted who was standing behind the counter with Mayumi.

“Aunt Satomi!”

“Hey, Usagi! I figured Naru would call you over.”

“Does Mom know you’re here?”

“We’re going for dinner later.”

“Gonna have a good old fashioned girls’ night out,” Mayumi smiled broadly and elbowed her friend. “We should hit up the host clubs.”

“Ooh, good idea.”

Usagi didn’t want to think about her mother, Naru’s mother, and their old school friend at a host club, so she dashed upstairs. She already had a pretty good idea of what Naru’s surprise was. She found Naru’s room and burst in squealing, “Rui!!”

Satomi’s daughter, Rui, looked up from where she was sitting on the floor in front of the electric fan with Naru and greeted her with a big smile. “Usagi! Long time no see!”

Usagi joined them on the floor and helped herself to some of the iced tea set on a tray between them. “What brings you here?”

“I’m competing in a regional tennis tournament that starts tomorrow.”

“Oh, cool! Can we go watch?”

“Yeah, of course! I’d love for you guys to come see me play!”

 

The next day, Usagi and Naru, along with Yumiko, Kuri, and Ami (“Just until I have to go to cram school.”) plus Luna, curled up catnapping in Usagi’s bag, arrived mid-morning at the community center hosting the tennis tournament.

“How do you know this person again?” Yumiko asked as they took their seats.

“Her mom went to school with our moms. She’s older than us, so she used to look after us when they went out before she moved to Osaka,” Naru explained. “Remember Usagi? We used to go to tennis practice with her and run around chasing runaway balls.”

“Yeah! That was a lot of fun.”

“And now that she’s in high school she’s getting a lot of attention in tournaments. She might even go to the Olympics!” Naru excitedly informed them.

“Oh, cool.”  
“Wow.”  
“Ah yes, I thought I recognized the name. I read about her in the newspaper.”

Everyone paused to look at Ami.

“You read the newspaper?” Usagi asked, just to make sure.

Ami nodded. “It’s important to stay informed about the world around you.”

“Ami, you’re such an adult…” Yumiko trailed off in awe.

Usagi suddenly bopped her fist into her palm as a lightbulb went off in her head. She took out her phone and began tapping away. “I should see if Rei wants to join us!”

“Rei?”

“The miko we met at the festival,” Ami explained helpfully.

“The really pretty one?” Naru asked. She looked down at her hands when Usagi nodded. “I didn't realize you’d become friends…”

“She’s super cool and mature, like Ami,” Usagi happily informed her.

“Oh…”

Naru was interrupted as the speaker system crackled to life.

“Thank you for attending the 26th annual Summer Kanto Regional High School Tennis Tournament. To kick off today’s events, we’d like to direct everyone’s attention to the center court where an exhibition match will be held between one of our competitors and the president of the tournament’s top sponsor, Sanjouin Masato.”

“Ooh,” Kuri leaned forward, “so that’s the rich guy buying up properties all over the place lately.”

“In the red sports car?” Yumiko peered down at the smart-dressed businessman in question.

“Uh-huh.”

“Red sports car?” Usagi thought back; was it the same red sports car that almost hit her outside the supermarket? More importantly, “He looks pretty young.”

“And handsome…” Naru trailed off next to her.

Usagi smiled slyly and elbowed her. “Naru~ you always did have a thing for guys with long hair.”

“You’re right, she does,” Yumiko laughed.

Down on the court, Sanjouin Masato was met with the young woman doing the announcements. “Thank you for joining us, Sanjouin-san. Who among our contestants today have you selected to be your opponent?”

Sanjouin’s husky voice filled the auditorium and, to her friends’ glee, made Naru blush even more red.

“Thank you for allowing me the chance to take part in today’s exhibition match. For my opponent, I would like to request our up-and-coming star player, who we can expect to shine bright in this competition, Saionji Rui!”

Usagi and Naru squealed.

Rui walked out onto the court, looking smart in her white and pale green tennis outfit and her long brown hair pulled into a high ponytail that hung straight down her back. She shook hands with Sanjouin Masato and they took their places at opposing sides of the tennis court.

Rui had the first serve, and the game was surprisingly even-matched. The initial volley continued back and forth for a number of minutes before Sanjouin got in a smash hit that sailed past Rui’s head to smack into the floor with such force that it echoed throughout the auditorium. Rui looked back at the ball in surprise, then turned back with her mouth pressed into a firm line.

“I know that look,” Naru laughed.

Usagi chuckled along with her. “Yup, her super competitiveness is about to show up.”

“Ahhh, she’s one of those types,” Yumiko smiled.

Kuri elbowed Ami, “Kind of like Ami with test scores.”

Ami tried to protest but ultimately couldn’t, because Kuri was right and they all knew it.

The tennis match down below heated up, with Sanjouin Masato proving that, despite being a civilian, he was still a match for Rui at her best. Finally, with a loud “ungh!” Rui managed an overhead smash shot that decided the match in her favour. The chair umpire called the match, and Sanjouin Masato approached the net to congratulate Rui. Despite the fact that she was breathing heavily, he had barely broken a sweat, and even went so far as to jump over the net like it was nothing.

“Good match,” he greeted her cordially.

“Thanks, same to you, sir,” Rui responded between breaths.

“Looks like your racquet is about to lose a string, can I see?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, sure…” Rui handed him her racquet, and he considered it closely, frowning in what almost seemed like inordinate concentration. “Um…? I-I could have sworn it was fine this morning...”

He handed it back. “Definitely loose. You should tighten it before your first match.”

“I’ll do that, thank-you.”

The parted ways and the announcer began outlining the day’s events. Sanjouin Masato left the main area and entered a passageway leading off the floor. There he encountered another man waiting for him, standing against the wall with one eyebrow arched inquisitively as he toyed absently with the tip of his ponytail.

“Well?” he drawled, letting the unspoken question hang in the air.

“All according the plan.”

“I must admit, Nephrite, when you started this whole ‘Sanjouin Masato’ persona and began living amongst these people, I wondered if you had gone insane. I’m still not sure how you expect it to work.”

Nephrite smirked, “You’ll see soon enough. The stars have spoken, and Saionji Rui will reach peak energy today.” He tilted his head and looked down on his companion. “And how is your search for the Silver Moon Crystal going, Zoicite?”

Zoicite flipped his ponytail back over his shoulder and huffed. “Jadeite was on a fool’s errand, even before he got distracted with all the ‘Sailor’ nonsense. The Crystal isn’t going to be found in some jewelry shop. From what I’ve been able to find out, it seems most likely the Crystal is hidden _inside_ someone.”

“Inside someone, huh…?”

Zoicite examined his immaculate fingernails with disdain on his lips. “So you may be on the right track finding people whose energy is reaching its peak…”

Nephrite smirked again. “You’re saying we’ll have to work together after all?”

“Much as I am loathe to do so.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

Zoicite snorted. “Anyway, I will be watching your progress very closely. If we are working to the same end and people at peak energy are what we’re after, all it’ll take is for the Sailor Guardians to find you out and I can convince Queen Beryl to let me take charge here.” He laughed and disappeared in a flutter of flower petals.

Nephrite frowned at the space Zoicite vacated and narrowed his eyes. He would have to consult the stars again on the location of the Silver Moon Crystal based on this information later.

Nephrite continued through the passage to where it opened into one of the broad hallways circling the auditorium. Just as he turned the corner, he nearly collided with someone and was forced to stop short.

“Ah, oh! S-Sorry…!”

He quickly eased into his Sanjouin Masato person and responded with a friendly, “Not to worry.”

The young girl twisted her hands shyly. “I-I watched your match with Rui. You’re a really good tennis player…”

“Thank you,” he looked at her a little more closely. She was cute enough, with big green eyes, and shoulder-length curly hair pulled back from her face. Nothing about her seemed very special though, and she was nowhere near at peak energy. But you never know when someone might be useful, “Are you friends with Saionji-san?”

“Yeah, we grew up together…”

“I see. I’m sure she’ll do great things in this tournament to make you proud.”

“I know she will!”

He had to fight to keep a smirk from appearing on his face. The look in her eyes was so pure and innocent it was almost laughable.

She seemed to catch herself and gave a quick bow of her head. “Sorry for taking up your time, you must be very busy.”

“It’s no problem at all. It was a pleasure talking with you, uh…?”

“Naru,” she said shyly, “Osaka Naru.”

“Osaka-san. I hope we can talk again someday.”

They parted ways and he commited the name to memory. Osaka Naru… there was no telling who might be useful in the future, and knowing her full name made it easier to divinate her energy from the stars.

Naru ran the rest of the way to the ladies’ room and checked the mirror to see how red her face was. She put her hands to her cheeks and giggled when she felt just how warm they were. Sanjouin Masato hoped they would meet again…!

 

Naru felt like she was walking on air all the way back to her seat. As she was climbing the stairs, Usagi spotted her and waved, calling out to tell her,

“Good timing! Rui’s about to play!”

“Oh, oh, oh!” Naru raced the last few steps and slid into her seat, yelling, “Rui~!” When this got no reaction, she lowered her hand. “Aww… she didn’t wave back.”

Yumiko shrugged. “Maybe she didn’t hear you?”

“Maybe…” They weren’t that far up, were they? She laughed a little. “Actually it looks like she’s still worked up from the exhibition match.”

“You’re right,” Usagi grimaced.

Kuri leaned forward to set her elbows on her knees. “She is playing pretty aggressively.”

“It’s scary,” Yumiko laughed.

Ami pushed up her glasses and agreed, “There’s definitely an increase in the number of shots she takes with the clear intention of actively wearing down her opponent.”

The other girls side-eyed her.

“Ami… you’re not counting the shots or something, are you?” Usagi cautiously asked.

Ami smiled. “I thought calculating the match statistics in real-time might be a good mental exercise.”

Math made Usagi queasy. “To each their own.”

“Wait, that seems like it might be useful for tests. How are you managing that?” Kuri scooted closer to Ami, and the two smart girls got into even more mathy topics that the other three actively tried to avoid.

Down on the court, the chair raised his hand and called, “Match point, Saionji Rui.”

“She won!” Usagi cheered, getting to her feet.

“Rui~!” Naru hollered enthusiastically.

Rui wiped the sweat from her brow and gripped her racquet tightly. “Next.”

The chair looked perplexed. “Your next match isn’t until the next elimination round, Saionji.”

“I wanna do it now.”

“But your opponent hasn’t even been decided yet.”

“I’ll play them all.” Rui bared her teeth.

“Please clear the court for the next match.”

“I’ll play both the next players together. I’ll take them both at once, easy!”

The chair frowned at her. “Please clear the court or you will be disqualified from continuing in the tournament.”

Yumiko laughed nervously and voiced the question that was on her, Kuri, and Ami’s minds, “Is she always like this?”

Naru slowly shook her head from side to side. “N-No… I mean, we haven’t seen her for over a year, but…”

“I wonder if that Sanjouin guy said something to her.” Kuri exchanged glances with Yumiko.

“N-No way!” Naru protested, a little too loudly. She blushed when this got her raised eyebrows from all her friends. “I ran into him when I went to the bathroom earlier. H-He seemed nice enough…”

The raised eyebrows gave way to knowing grins.

Naru preempted their teasing by steering the conversation back to Rui’s odd behaviour. “A-Anyway, maybe Rui just needs to cool down between matches. Usagi, wanna go take her a drink and try to talk to her?”

Luna lifted her head from Usagi’s bag and flicked her ear. She hopped out and slunk along to the aisle, where she could peek down at the courts. Usagi watched her with growing apprehension. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

Ami caught Usagi’s eye and got to her feet as well. “I should be going to cram school anyway, so I’ll walk down with you.”

“Okay, watch our seats, guys. Want us to bring you back anything?” Usagi asked.

“I could use another green tea.”

Kuri nodded in agreement with Yumiko. “That sounds good, but a lemon tea for me.”

“Gotcha, you can pay me back after.”

“Sounds good.”

 

When they entered the back area, it wasn’t hard to find Rui; she was in the hall leading to the locker rooms yelling at an uncomfortable-looking middle-aged man who they assumed was her coach or one of the tournament officials. A number of other tennis players were standing around eyeing the situation uneasily. Rui herself didn’t look… right. She had heavy circles under her eyes and the grip on her tennis racquet was white-knuckled. She looked a completely different person from the smiling, warm person they’d hung out with the previous day.

“Rui!” Naru ran to her side, but Usagi, Ami, and Luna hung back.

“The air feels weird here,” Usagi whined.

“There must be a youma nearby…” Ami crossed her arms. “I wish I could use my visor when I’m not transformed…”

Luna stood a little straighter. “Wait, I think I might have something…”

“Ooh, we haven’t had a flippy glitter moment in awhile…!” Usagi put her hands together in anticipation.

Luna rolled her eyes, before concentrating her magic and flipping over backwards, the resulting glitter coalescing into a little blue tablet roughly the size of a smartphone. Ami picked it up and tapped the screen, making a little ‘hm!’ sound that Usagi and Luna recognized as meaning her interest had been piqued.

“You know, Luna, someday we need to discuss where these items come from. I’m very interested to know how matter-energy conversion comes into play.”

Luna winced. “I’m not sure I could answer your questions, to be honest.”

“Wow,” Usagi peered over Ami’s shoulder at the display on the little tablet computer. “I wish I could get a new item…”

Luna rolled her eyes. “ _Any_ way, Ami, what does the tablet say?”

Ami frowned at the readings she was getting. “The concentration of negative energy seems to be coming from… Rui.”

“Whaaat?” Usagi shook her head vehemently. “No way! Luna, your glitter’s broken!”

“The enemy might have done something to her,” Luna hissed.

“Oh.” Usagi stopped her protest and her pigtails swung to a stop behind her. “That would explain why she started acting weird. Ami can you see how to snap her out of it? Is there a youma around we need to defeat?”

Luna raised her eyebrows at her. “You’re being remarkably proactive today.”

“Rui’s my friend, Luna. I have to protect her.”

Ah yes, Luna thought to herself. That was a fairly dependable pattern for Usagi. She hoped it wouldn’t come back to haunt her in the future.

Ami’s tablet bipped and she swiped the screen. “It seems most of the negative energy is coming from her tennis racquet.”

“She has a cursed racquet?”

“That’s… one way to put it, I suppose.”

Usagi looked over at where Rui was waving the racquet around, arguing with the coach-type person next to her, with her classmates, with Naru... “How can we get it away from her?”

Ami thought for a moment. “I suppose we could try Tuxedo Mask’s method?”

“I don’t have any roses.”

Luna sighed. “I hardly think that’s what she meant.”

Ami smiled patiently. “I meant we surprise her and take it by force before she can react. I could use Aqua Mist to blind everyone in the room and you could grab it.”

“Ohhh, good idea!”

Together the pair ducked into the bathroom they’d passed a few meters back.

“ _Moon Prism Power! Make Up!_ ”  
“ _Mercury Power! Make Up!_ ”

They tumbled back out into the hall in a flurry of sparkles and ran back to where Rui and the others were. Usagi squared her shoulders. “Let’s do this, Mercury!”

“Right!” Ami crossed her arms before her and concentrated her energy, “Mercury Aqua Mist!”

The room filled with frozen mist and assorted cries of surprise and distress. Usagi dashed into it, finding Rui and making a grab for her tennis racquet. To her utter shock, Rui reacted by planting her feet and doing the exact opposite of what Ami and Usagi had expected. She grabbed onto the racquet and pulled hard, nearly dragging Usagi off her feet to crash into her.

Usagi just barely kept her balance, her pigtails swinging wildly around her as she squeaked in surprise. She was abruptly put nose to nose with Rui, in a tug-of-war over the tennis racquet.

“Are you trying to sabotage me?” Rui demanded through grit teeth.

“Am I what?” Usagi yelped, struggling to stay on her feet.

Luna hopped into view through the fog and hissed, “Sailor Moon, what are you doing?”

“She’s too strong…!” Usagi whimpered back. She squeaked again as she and Luna simultaneously noticed that Rui’s eyes had begun to change. A deep golden, almost amber colour was bleeding out from her pupils into her irises. “What the…?”

“You can’t…” Rui gave one inhuman shove that finally threw Usagi off her feet, where she hit the cold floor hard on her butt right at Naru’s feet, “...take this from me!”

The tension in the room reached a breaking point, snapping in a way that created a shockwave that blew all of Ami’s Aqua Mist outwards from Rui and knocked everyone in the room minus the Sailor Guardians and Luna unconscious. Usagi scrambled to catch Naru before she could hit her head on the floor.

Rui stood over them, shoulders hunched and breathing heavily. “I won’t let you take this from me…” she growled. “I’ve worked too hard…” The amber had overflowed from her eyes, spilling over to leave golden tracks down her face. Usagi was frozen in place by the sight of it, even as Rui lifted the tennis racquet threateningly over her head…

“Fire Soul!”

Fire ripped across the floor to form a circle around Rui, driving her to drop her arm to shield her eyes.

Usagi looked up with a relieved smile, “Mars! How did you know where to find us?”

“You invited me here,” Rei reminded her dryly.

“Oh yeah, I did! Good job, me!”

There was no more time for Usagi to further congratulate herself or for Rei to snark on it, as Rui let out an inhuman growl and began swiping at the flames with her racquet.

“Mars,” Ami spoke up, “we need to get her separated from that tennis racquet! Do you think your paper charms can help?”

“I can try,” Rei snapped to attention and withdrew one of her paper charms. “ _Evil Spirits… Begone!_ ”

The charm flew through the air and passed straight through Mars’ magic flames, only to be struck to the ground by Rui’s tennis racquet. All three Sailor Guardians gasped in surprise.

“You call that a serve?” Rui snarled.

“You call that a clever comeback?” Usagi’s mouth ran off without thinking yet again. She facepalmed internally. This really was not a good coping mechanism.

Ami looked to Rei, her eyes wide. “Mars?”

Rei shook her head. “That’s never happened before. She’s so amped up we might need to wear her down before we can get it away from her.”

“Wear her down?” Usagi carefully laid Naru on the floor out of the way, then crossed over to tearfully whisper, “I can’t fight Rui! She’s my friend!”

Rei’s mouth pressed into a firm line. “You might not have a choice.”

“But--!”

“It would be more cruel to leave her like that,” Rei snapped, brandishing a hand towards where Rui was still trying to get out of the circle of flames.

Usagi stopped short, her eyes filling even further with tears. She dropped to her knees before Luna and pleaded, “There must be another way!”

Luna’s eyes were wide and she shook her head slowly from side to side. “I-I don’t know…!”

“Can’t you sparkle up some, I don’t know, some magic de-possessifier item to cure her?”

“U-” Ami stopped herself just in time, “Moon…”

“If… If we had the Silver Crystal…” Luna said weakly.

“We don’t, though!” Usagi got to her feet and looked back at Rui. She was aware that her tiara attack bent to her will to a certain extent. Was there some way she could…? The knot in her chest built and built and she began to feel it start to coalesce into… into… 

Usagi removed her tiara and it began to glow in her hands, disappearing into a ball of golden energy that dripped like sand through her fingers to leave a crescent moon wand laying across her outstretched palms in its wake. Her fingers curled around the smooth, pink handle and she drew back, drawing a full circle in the air all around her. The words that accompanied it were so distant in her ears it was almost as if another person were speaking them, “Moon Healing Escalation!”

The magic washed over Rui and with an inhuman cry she dropped the tennis racquet to fall backwards to the floor. Rei acted quickly, vanquishing her flames with a swipe of her hand and dashing forward to kick the offending item out of reach. When she crouched to check on Rui, the older girl was unconscious, and the weird amber-coloured energy had disappeared from her face.

Meanwhile, Usagi collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily as if she’d just run a marathon.

The tennis racquet rattled against the floor, then sprouted what looked like crab pincers, followed by arms attached to a cackling youma.

“Holy crap!” Usagi shrieked.

Rei suddenly stood straighter, snapping to attention and turning to the hallway, her voice low and dangerous on the words, “Who’s there?”

From the hall opposite Usagi, Ami, and Luna the clack of polished shoes preceded their owner. From the shadows emerged a tall man with long, full auburn hair that tumbled in waves halfway down his back. He wore a uniform like Jadeite had, only his was edged in an amber yellow colour and there were epaulettes embellished with red gems attached to the shoulders.

“I anticipated you would show up to try and ruin things for me like you did with Jadeite,” the new person sneered. He put a hand on his hip and looked down on them, “Luckily I got the last of the energy I that girl had to offer while you were taking your time in putting her out of her misery!”

“Wha-?!” Usagi choked on the word in indignation.

Luna’s ears were flat against her head as she hissed under her breath, “Don’t let on that you know Rui personally. He’s definitely more of a threat than Jadeite was.”

“Don’t say that, Jadeite was scary enough!” Usagi whispered back. Nonetheless she struggled back to her feet and loudly addressed this new threat, “Who are you to take energy from an innocent girl and almost ruin her chances in this tournament? We’ll show up to stop you no matter where you try your evil schemes, you can count on it! So just try it, creep, in the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!”

The new guy smirked. “You’re all talk.”

“We’ll do it, just watch us! So which ‘ite’ are you, huh?”

He narrowed his eyes at her, which told Usagi her wild guess had landed. “Nephrite, and you’d best remember it as the last name you’ll know before you die.” He motioned the crab-youma forward, “Kill them all, leave no one in this room alive.”

“Didn’t you hear her?” Rei snapped her arm out to point a finger at him, “You’re not getting away with anything!” She was about to swing her other arm forward to clasp her hands and unleash another fire attack when the youma tackled her from the side and they crashed to the floor dangerously close to where Usagi had left Naru.

Usagi let out a strangled cry and ran forward to put herself between the fight and her friend and to flail about trying to think of a way to help. She reached for her tiara only to find that it was still wandified, and in the moment it took her to mentally register that fact and try to switch tracks, the youma clamped one pincer around Rei’s neck to pin her to the ground and snapped the other around Usagi’s wrist. 

“Ow!”

Ami tried to run forward but Nephrite stepped in to block her way, the corners of his mouth turned up infuriatingly. She narrowed her eyes, calculating a way to get around him.

Suddenly something whooshed through the air and the crab youma gave a shriek of pain. She let go of Usagi, who stumbled back to see the impossibly sharp long-stemmed rose stuck into the floor next to her. “Tuxedo Mask!”

Tuxedo Mask slipped out of the shadows and put his cane to Nephrite’s throat. “I’ll handle this guy, Sailor Mercury. You help take care of the youma.”

“Right,” Ami stepped around Nephrite and together she and Usagi bodily managed to get the youma to let go of Rei.

Once free, Rei quickly got to her feet and rubbed at her throat. “We’re going to have to combine our powers like we did on the cruise for this one, I think.”

“I don’t have my tiara anymore, though!” Usagi fretted.

“If you could pull that wand out of nowhere, can’t you manage something else?” Rei demanded.

Usagi looked down at the wand with her brow furrowed in thought. There did seem to be something. “Let’s give it a try…”

The youma was back on her feet and ready to continue the fight. Usagi exchanged determined looks with Ami and Rei and they raised their voices together...

“Mercury Aqua Mist!”  
“Fire Soul!”  
“Moon... Twilight... Flash!”

Their attacks fused in a rush of energy that reduced the youma to dust.

Nephrite looked on from where he was mid-standoff with Tuxedo Mask and scowled. Zoicite was never going to let him hear the end of this. Still he had the energy he’d come for, so it was time to cut his losses. “I’ll let you live this time, even the girl. You never know, a promising tennis star like her… she may reach peak energy again in the future…” His laughter was the last to fade as he disappeared before their eyes.

Which was good because Usagi was well past her limit. She dropped bonelessly to the ground, only distantly aware of Ami and Rei calling out “Sailor Moon!” in alarm before she lost consciousness.

Tuxedo Mask rushed over and got down on one knee in concern.

Before he could ask, Ami gave him a wan smile. “She’s fine. She just overexerted herself…”

Tuxedo Mask fondly reached out to brush an errant strand of hair from her face. “She’s been that way ever since we met.”

In her sleep, she turned her face into his touch and murmured, just barely loud enough to be heard, “Endymion…”

Tuxedo Mask froze, the word was unfamiliar and yet it made his heart stop. It was a strange feeling. Had he heard it before? Did he know it from somewhere?

The weird thing was… he could almost see the same questions on the faces of Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars…

Rei was the first to act. “We should get out of here before people start waking up or we’re discovered and things get messy.”

“Right,” Ami agreed.

Tuxedo Mask slipped his hand away from where it had lingered on Sailor Moon’s cheek and he got to his feet. He tipped his hat. “Til next time, then.” And then he was gone.

In his wake, Rei huffed and said, “I don’t know how I feel about kind of getting what she sees in him…” She frowned. “Does that make sense?”

Ami laughed. “I suppose he does have a sort of charisma about him? Luna doesn’t trust him though.”

Luna made a face. “My reservations aside, Sailor Mars is right, we should leave before we’re discovered.”

 

Sometime later, after tournament officials discovered the mysterious “illness” that had befallen all the people backstage and called emergency services, Usagi and Naru were anxiously hovering bedside, waiting for Rui to open her eyes.

Finally, after what felt like an interminable wait, she did, and the pair of them pressed forward with hushed, anxious, “Rui!”s.

“Naru… Usagi…” She passed her hand over her eyes. “What happened?”

Usagi bit her lip, while Naru related the prevailing theory about a sudden mystery illness. “They said the tournament will be postponed until the October long weekend.”

“Oh good…” Rui sighed. “I barely remember anything…”

“Get some rest,” Naru patted her shoulder.

Usagi and Naru promised to come again the next day, and any subsequent days if it turned out Rui had to stay in the hospital longer than overnight. The quietly left Rui’s room and it wasn’t until they had taken the elevator back to ground level and walked out the front doors into the cicada-song filled summer heat that Naru was finally the first to speak…

“Usagi…”

Usagi was in the process of shielding her eyes against the sun and debating getting an ice cream on the way home. She dropped both her hand and the thought at the heavy tone in Naru’s voice. “Hm?”

“What’s going on lately?”

“Whaaat do you mean?” Even to her own ears she drew out the first word suspiciously long.

Naru sighed. “Never mind. Wanna get an ice cream on the way home?”

That ‘never mind’ was loaded enough that even Usagi didn’t much feel like eating, but she had to keep up appearances. “When do I not wanna get an ice cream?”

Naru giggled. “Wanna see if the line at the fancy new fruit ice cream bar is still ridiculously long?”

“Ooh, sure!” Scratch that, nothing ruined Usagi’s appetite for ice cream. “If it’s still a million hour-long wait we can just go to a convenience store.”

“Works for me, let’s go!”

 

_“Moon Healing Escalation!”_

Nephrite stood at attention, his back rigid, pointedly ignoring the smug grin Zoicite was not hiding behind the fingers curled at his face. Before him, Queen Beryl’s expression was scarily unreadable.

As the replay of the battle reached the point where the three Sailor Guardians combined their attacks, Beryl waved her hand in disgust and the magic window disappeared.

“Sailor Moon and her little friends grow more dangerous to our cause every day.”

The statement hung heavy and tepid in the air for what felt like a long moment. Nephrite involuntarily clenched his fists in impatience. If Beryl was going to kill him after only one failure, when she’d tolerated Jadeite for so long, then so be it. He could only spitefully hope that Zoicite would last even shorter in his stead.

“Nephrite,” Queen Beryl’s voice pierced the air finally. “Your plan to take energy from people who have peaked has merit. Especially considering Zoicite’s theory about the Silver Moon Crystal possibly being hidden inside a person, and how this energy will continue to prove invaluable in the interim.”

“Yes, my Queen,” Nephrite bowed his head.

“Therefore, I will entrust you with both the energy collection… and the search for the Silver Moon Crystal. You are free to take any means necessary.”

Nephrite narrowed his eyes. If Zoicite’s mission was being shifted to him, then…

“Zoicite, you are also free to take any means necessary in your new mission…”

Zoicite’s grin grew, already anticipating what this new mission was going to be.

“...lure out the Sailor Guardians, their cat, and Tuxedo Mask and destroy them.”

Zoicite smirked, bowing low at the waist with his fist at his chest. “Yes, my Queen.”


	9. Moving On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who saves Usagi's butt more, Makoto or Tuxedo Mask...?

Usagi abruptly sat up in bed with a sleepy “-mion.”

Luna’s ear twitched and she opened one eye. “Hm?”

Usagi very slowly came the rest of the way out of sleep and answered this with a, “Hm?”

“Who’s mean?” Luna asked.

“Huh? Mean?” Usagi rubbed at her eyes. “Reality’s mean.”

“How so?”

“I gotta go back to school today.” She narrowed her eyes at the clock suspiciously. “Don’t I?”

Luna yawned and joked, “Don’t look at me, I’m just a cat.”

“See, this is exactly what I mean. Cats don’t have to go to school. Why can’t I be a cat?”

“Usagi?” Ikuko’s voice preempted whatever response Luna had to this. “The new school term starts today! You better be up!”

“Guess that answers one question,” Usagi groaned and rolled out of bed.

 

On the way to school she eyed the convenience store and her stomach rumbled. Why did she keep having toast for breakfast when it was never enough? Did ice cream count as a breakfast food? She veered into the doors and basked for a moment in the air conditioning before peering into the ice cream box. Sorbet had fruit, and fruit was healthy… surely that was a good breakfast, right? She extracted an orange flavoured one for extra breakfast-ness since it was basically frozen orange juice, purchased it, and unwrapped it in the store to toss the wrapper in the trash bin by the register.

But then…

Disaster struck.

On her way out, a young man dressed in gym shorts, a white “supreme” t-shirt, and a chain around his neck was just coming in with his eyes fixed on the screen of his smartphone. Unsurprisingly, he walked directly into her. Usagi squawked in surprise and her orange popsicle ended up smushed into his shirt before she’d even had a single taste of it.

“Hey! What the hell?”

Usagi shrank back at his tone. “Um, sorry?”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it. What’re you gonna do about my shirt, huh?”

It was his fault for not watching where he was going, but Usagi couldn’t quite get the words out to tell him this. Of all the times for her penchant for mouthing off to fail her… Sure, she should have been watching where she was going too, but still…

Suddenly the man’s shirt was wrenched backwards by the neck, cutting off his air so quickly he was barely able to vocalize a “hrk!” of surprise.

Usagi looked around him to see the reappearance of her newfound knight in shining honour, Makoto. This set her mind off on the tangent of momentarily wondering if Makoto was Tuxedo Mask. But no, that was silly.

Wasn’t it?

Makoto looked at the tag of dudebro’s t-shirt and scoffed. “This isn’t even real.” She shoved him aside. “Get lost.”

Mr. Fake!supreme gaped at her, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly several times before he clenched a fist threateningly and sputtered, “You wanna go?!”

Makoto looked unimpressed and turned to walk away towards where the drinks were at the back of the convenience store. Usagi looked between the two of them, so worried about what might happen she didn’t even notice what remained of her popsicle was melting over her hand nor the fact that she was dangerously close to being late to class on the first day of school.

Fake!supreme stalked forward and grabbed her by the shoulder. “Hey! I’m talkin’ to you, bitch!”

Makoto went very still, then slowly reached up and curled her fingers around his wrist. What happened next was all too fast for Usagi to follow, but before her eyes, Makoto had dudebro’s arm twisted behind his back and while he cried and raged, she marched him to the convenience store entrance, took one step out, and in the blink of an eye he was flat on his back on the concrete.

“Get lost. Don’t let me see you ‘round here again, got it?” Makoto said, so serious she rolled her r’s, which in Usagi’s mind only made her seem cooler.

Makoto turned back inside and smiled at her. “Let me grab an orange juice and we can walk to school together… if you don’t mind...”

Stars erupted in Usagi’s eyes. “Not at all!”

“Is today your first day at school?” Usagi asked once they were on their way again.

Makoto shook her head. “I had to take summer classes to make up for some time I missed at my last school.”

Usagi went ‘hmmm’ around the popsicle stick in her mouth and glanced at Makoto’s brown skirt. “And you still don’t have a uniform?”

“They don’t have my size so I’d need to get it special order, and I don’t have the money for that right now. A uniform is a uniform, so the school said that wearing my old one is fine for the rest of the school year at least.”

Makoto was easily a head taller than Usagi, which meant that the normal uniform skirt would fall a fair amount above her knees and become a violation of the dress code.

Usagi rolled her eyes. “It’s not your fault you’re so tall.”

Makoto laughed. “That’s just how the world is.”

“Why’d you change schools anyway? Did one of your parents change jobs or something?”

Makoto seemed to take pause at this, drinking some of her orange juice before answering. “Well, a lot of things. Most of all, I felt there was something drawing me here.”

“What do you mean?” Usagi asked, just as they simultaneously reached the school gate and heard the first bell. “Ack! Haruna will never let me live it down if I’m late on the first day. Later!”

 

Usagi dashed into her classroom, saw that Haruna-sensei wasn’t there yet, and crowed, “Saaaaafe! This term’s gonna be different! I am Usagi reborn!! Ha ha ha!”

Yumiko sunnily countered this with, “You might wanna wait and see if you can keep it up more than one day before making a statement like that!”

Usagi gave her finger-guns. “You make a good point.”

Yumiko returned the finger guns and winked. “I know you well.”

“Usagi~!” Naru called from across the room. “C’mear, Umino solved your mystery!”

“What mystery?” Usagi yelled back, hurrying over.

“You know, your mystery girl! The one in the brown and cream uniform?”

“Ohh,” Usagi beamed. “You mean Mak--”

“She’s super dangerous!” Umino said ominously, his glasses flashing in the morning sun for extra melodrama.

“Wha?”

“Rumour has it she got kicked out of her last school for fighting.” Umino pushes his glasses up his nose and held a finger to his lips surreptitiously. “Some people on my cram school’s message board are saying her last two schools.”

“That’s crazy…” Usagi laughed nervously. Sure Makoto seemed super nice, but then again, there was the efficient way she dispatched fake!supreme guy in the convenience store… “No way…”

Before Usagi could quite finish processing this information? Rumour? Haruna-sensei arrived and called for the class to sit down so she could take attendance. Maybe she could ask Makoto about it later. But what if it was a touchy subject? Asking someone you only barely got to know about baseless rumours seemed a little rude… wasn’t it?

Usagi sat low in her seat and frowned, crossing her arms in thought. “Fighting, huh…?”

From the seat next to her, Naru opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it, then was about to say something else when Haruna called her name and she was forced to let it go.

 

At lunch, Usagi stretched and let out a loud sigh. “The first day back after holidays is super hungry work! I could eat, like, three whole boxed lunches!”

“As opposed to your usual two-point-five,” Naru teased her.

“I'd be offended if it wasn't true.”

“Wanna eat outside?”

“Yeah! Let’s see if we can find Kuri and Ami!”

“Pff,” Yumiko waved this idea aside as she joined them, “you know they’re so busy studying they’ll barely remember to eat.”

“All the more reason to eat with us. Brains need food, too!” Usagi protested.

There was a pause while Naru and Yumiko clearly tried to choose from one of the many, many possible responses they could make. Usagi preempted them with a good-natured sigh, “Yeah, yeah, I’m not the right person to make that point.”

“Maybe you feed your brain so much it goes so far past getting perfect grades it cycles back and starts again at the bottom?” Yumiko suggested brightly.

“Wow, that was such an epic sick burn you must have eaten your lunch early to think of it,” Usagi retorted.

“C’mon you two, I’m hungry.” Naru gathered up her lunch and preceded them out of the classroom.

 

Outside, they paused to adjust to the heat and look for an open spot that was in the shade. Across the way, off by herself, Usagi spotted Makoto just in the process of unwrapping her lunch box.

“Wanna see if we can sit with the new girl?” she suggested.

Naru and Yumiko regarded her skeptically.

“Did you not hear what Umino told us this morning?” Yumiko shook her head.

Usagi looked between them. “I walked part of the way to school with her this morning. She seemed nice.”

“We can’t all make friends with the world like you, Usagi.” Naru put her hands on her hips and looked around. “Let’s just find another spot and eat.”

Usagi frowned. “C’mon guys, no one wants to eat alone. And that’s our usual tree, let’s just go sit with her.”

“Some people like to eat alone,” Naru chided her. “Just because you don’t doesn’t mean she doesn’t.”

This elicited a pout from Usagi. “Aww… Can’t I at least ask her? I’m gonna go ask her.” She began marching across the grass before either Naru or Yumiko could intervene.

Makoto wasn’t facing her, instead sitting with her back to the tree in such a way that Usagi was essentially approaching from a blind spot on her left side and slightly behind her. Usagi was just about to say something to get Makoto’s attention when she took the lid off her lunch and…

“Whoa! That looks amazing!”

“Who the hell?!” Makoto snapped to attention and turned so fast that Usagi was forced to take a step back. Upon seeing her, she relaxed. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“Sorry,” Usagi giggled nervously. “Didn’t mean to startle you. Um… did your mom or something, er, someone make that? It looks store-bought almost!”

Makoto blushed and looked down at her lunch box, which was packed with a row of onigiri decorated with colourful seasonings on the outside, a little pocket of fried chicken next to perfectly-made sunny yellow rolled omelettes, sauteed spinach with sesame seeds, some harusame noodles with carrots cut into little flowers, little sausages cut into octopus shapes, and a cup of potato salad topped with a halved, perfectly smooth hard-boiled egg. “A-Actually… I made it.”

“You whaaa?!” Usagi turned around so fast her pigtails swished over Makoto’s head and tousled her ponytail. “You guys! You gotta come see this!”

Naru and Yumiko glanced at each other, then shrugged and tread across the grass to take a look for themselves. It took less than a second for it to register.

“Holy crap!”  
“Wow!”  
“Right?!”

Makoto blushed even harder. “I-It’s not that special, really…!”

“How did you get the shell off the egg so perfectly? Every time my mom and I try, it ends up looking like a complete mess!” Yumiko asked as she peered over the lunch.

“You need to have a bowl of ice water at the ready to put the eggs in as soon as you take them off the stove.” Makoto thought a moment. “It also helps if the eggs are a little older. A super fresh egg will more easily stick to the shell.”

“Ohhh…! I’ll have to tell my mom.”

“The octopus weiners are so cute…” Naru leaned down for a closer look. “Are those bits of carrot for the eyes?”

“Yeah, I used the parts I cut off when making the flowers.” Makoto looked nervously around at the three of them. “Um, would you like to join me?”

“Sure!” Usagi sat down immediately.

Naru and Yumiko hesitated, but ultimately sat down as well.

Makoto set her lunch box down between the four of them. “I made too much, by the way, so if you want to try anything, feel free.”

Usagi squealed and reached for one of the onigiri. “If you insist…!”

“Is it true you were kicked out of your last school for fighting?” Naru blurted out.

Everyone froze, Usagi with her fingertips brushing her onigiri of choice, Yumiko with her own lunch partially unwrapped, Makoto with a smile frozen on her lips, and Naru herself with her hands clenched on her lap. To her credit, Naru recovered from the awkwardness first, “Sorry…”

“Naru,” Usagi hissed, “What the heck?”

Makoto slipped her chopsticks out of their little satchel and reached for one of the fried chicken morsels. “It’s okay, I already heard my classmates talking about it.” She offered them a smile that was far too cheerful for the topic, “Technically, I had already started the transfer process when the fight happened.” She took a bite of chicken and thought a moment while she chewed. “Also I was breaking up the fight, not an active part in it.”

“S-So there was a fight?!” Yumiko raised her voice in surprise. She ducked her head when this garnered a few stares from other students close-by and whispered, “Sorry…”

Makoto waved this off. “I don’t mind. But yeah, my friend got mixed up with some rough kids from another school in the area and they came lookin’ for trouble that I was more than glad to give ‘em.”

“You’re so cool…!” Usagi had stars in her eyes (again). “You’re strong, a good friend, and a great cook! I wanna be like you when I grow up!”

“Usagi, you’re the same age,” Naru reminded her.

From there lunch topics ranged from what area Makoto lived in and recommending places to shop around there, to the usual topics like school gossip and the latest Sailor V livestream.

“I wonder if we can play Lovely Venus Dance on her rhythm game yet?” Naru wondered.

“We should check out the game center after school!” Usagi said excitedly, then a thought occurred to her. “Makoto, you should come too! Motoki should be working today.”

“O-Oh…?” Makoto’s cheeks turned the same pink as her rose earrings. She was so cute.

Wait.

Usagi stared hard at the rose earrings. Always saving her. Roses on her ears. Maybe Makoto really was Tuxedo Mask! She was roughly the right height, and she could be using magic to disguise herself as a man, right? Anything was possible. She’d have to consult with Luna, Ami, and Rei later to see what they thought.

“Oh-ho?” Yumiko looked between Usagi and Makoto with a twinkle in her eye. “Does Usagi have competition for Motoki’s affections?”

“More competition, you mean,” Usagi waggled her finger, “Motoki has many fans.”

“I’m sure he does.”

“Usagi has Mamoru anyway.”

“Shut up, Naru!”

“Mamoru’s the other guy from the supermarket, right?” Makoto asked.

“The jerk on the bicycle, yeah.”

“Oh, I assumed he was your boyfriend.”

Naru and Yumiko burst into laughter. “He might as well be!”

“He’s a jerk and a bully and I would never!” Usagi protested.

Makoto smiled. “You know what they say, ‘the lady doth protest too much’.”

“They’re in a total love/hate relationship,” Yumiko laughed.

“Usagi’s such a tsundere. I bet you’re super lovey-dovey when you’re alone,” Naru poked Usagi in the arm teasingly.

“Don’t make me barf up Makoto’s awesome food, please.”

“Speaking of which, careful she doesn’t eat all your awesome food, Makoto.” Naru wryly pointed out Usagi reaching for yet another octopus weiner.

“What? She said to help myself.”  
“That doesn’t mean helping yourself to everything!”  
“Sorry, Makoto, you’re new, you gotta be specific with this one. She has a black hole in her stomach.”  
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind from now on.”  
“Why is everyone so mean to me?!”

From where she was curled up on the stone wall fencing in the school, Luna listened in on the conversation and mentally rolled her eyes. “Good grief…”

 

In the end, they did all promise to go to the game center after school. When the bell rang, Usagi, Naru, and Yumiko waited by the gate for Makoto.

“I sent Kuri a message but by the time she gets her phone out and actually turns it on, she might just see us in person first,” Yumiko said, pocketing her own phone before a teacher could see.

“I think Ami has cram school today…” Usagi pondered aloud.

“Ami has cram school every day,” Yumiko laughed.

“Not true, she goes to some super advanced school for uhhh… science or something some days.”

“How in the world are you two friends again?”

Naru snorted. “Seriously.”

Usagi stuck her tongue out at the both of them. “I’d invite Rei but she has shrine duties.”

“Not to sound like a broken record, but…”

“A genius, a miko, and now a transfer student everyone’s afraid of,” Naru counted off on her fingers. “Next thing you know she won’t have use for us normal people anymore.”

“Don’t be silly!”

“Who’s being silly now?” Makoto asked by way of greeting. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Usagi and Naru laughed a little nervously.

“It’s okay,” Yumiko smoothly took over for them. “We’re still waiting for another friend anyway.”

“Oh, okay,” Makoto set her school bag on her shoulder and shifted her weight. At the same moment, Luna dropped off the wall and brushed against her ankles in one her more cat-like moments that to Usagi always seemed weirder than the fact that she could talk or use sparkle magic. “Oh, hey, kitty.”

“That’s Luna,” Usagi told her.

“She always follows Usagi to school.”

Makoto stooped down to scratch behind Luna’s ears. “She’s yours? She’s so pretty!”

“Mako-chan?”

At the new voice, Makoto froze. Alerted by her reaction, the other girls turned around to see a student who looked roughly their age, but in a boys uniform that didn’t belong to Juuban Middle School. He had slightly tousled brown hair and his eyes were fixed on Makoto.

“Mako…chan?” Usagi said slowly.

Makoto stood up, her face unreadable. “Ken… what are you doing here?”

The not-of-their-school boy who was apparently named Ken’s cheeks flushed. “D-Do you know how hard it was to find you, Makoto?”

“No one asked you to,” Makoto huffed.

The awkward silence that followed was so chilly the late summer air actually felt cooler.

“Um…” Usagi made the first attempt.

She was interrupted when Kuri ran up going, “Sorry, sorry! I got to talking with some of my classmates and… uh… whaaaat’s going on?” She slowed to a stop as the awkwardness made itself known.

More standing around, until…

Luna meowed helpfully and Usagi snapped out of her stupor. “Um! So… hey… Ken, was it? Wanna come to the game center with us?”

“Huh?” Ken looked like he only just noticed there were people other than Makoto there. “Game center?”

“I don’t think--” Makoto began, but Usagi was on a roll.

“Yeah, we were gonna go check out the rhythm games. Do you like Sailor V? Have you heard her new song? It’s sooo catchy I can’t wait til we can sing it at karaoke. Naru and I have already been practicing at home…”

Makoto opened her mouth to protest again but Kuri patted her on the shoulder. “We haven’t actually met yet, but, you should know there’s no stopping Usagi; she’s a force of nature.”

Yumiko laughed. “Makoto, this is Kuri, Kuri, Makoto. Makoto just transferred to our school and people think she’s some kind of delinquent or something but Usagi made friends with her anyway. Y’know, like usual.”

“Oh, cool. Nice to meet you, Makoto.”

“N-Nice to meet you…”

As a group the three of them followed after the Usagi/Ken pair, leaving Naru to follow behind them.

At the first intersection, they just happened to be waiting at the same red light as a bright red Ferrari. Curious, and already feeling left out of the conversations being carried on, Naru glanced at the driver and made eye contact with none other than Sanjouin Masato.

_Oh, but he probably doesn’t even remember me…_

She’d barely even finished the thought before recognition appeared in his eyes and he gave a friendly nod.

Naru stood a little taller and tried to look natural as she returned the nod, adding in a little wave of her hand. This got her a half smile just as the light turned green, and he sped off. The rev of his engine only seemed to amplify the rapid beating of her heart.

“Naru~!” Usagi called from across the street. “You coming?”

“Uh, yeah! Sorry!”

 

Not long after, they reached the game center but at the doors, Makoto balked. “Actually, maybe I should…”

“Mako-chan…” Ken huffed. “Can’t you think about how I felt? I get out of the hospital and you’ve gone and changed schools, moved out of your apartment, left some of your flowers with the cafeteria lady…”

Makoto pressed her lips into a firm line. “I had already decided to switch schools before that happened.”

Usagi looked between them and then suddenly raised her voice, “Oh! Are you the friend she got into a fight to protect?”

“Wh--” Ken’s face turned beet red all the way to his ears.

“Who got into a fight?” Motoki asked, coming around from the staff area behind the counter.

Now Makoto turned red. “U-Um…”

Yumiko hopped up to sit on one of the little tables set out in the main area of game center. “We’re just getting the full story ourselves, but it sounds like Makoto was protecting Ken from some bad kids and then moved here without telling him.”

“Wow, Makoto’s a good friend,” Motoki said with a smile, while at the same time, Usagi finished his sentence with,

“Super cool!”

Motoki winked at Usagi. “That too.”

Usagi giggled. “Anyway! We’ll leave you two to catch up.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna go try for that Honoka figure again,” Yumiko wandered off towards the UFO catchers.”

“Huh?” said Ken.

“Let’s go check out the rhythm games, Naru!” Usagi grabbed Naru’s hand and skipped off towards the back of the center.

“But, I thought--” Makoto protested.

Motoki looked between the reunited friends and bad-acted, “Ohhh I uhh… totally forgot... to do… something… in the back. I’ll go do that now.”

Left behind in a repeat of the awkwardness they’d already been steeped in at the school gate, Makoto and Ken looked at the floor, the tables, the game machines, the door, the floor again, anything but each other before finally Makoto caved.

“How’s your girlfriend?”

“She’s doing fine. Her parents moved her to an all-girls school so we only get to meet on the weekends sometimes.”

“Oh...”

“Mako…”

“Hm?”

“Are you really okay with just leaving like that? Sempai was asking about you…” Makoto raised her eyebrows at him and he shrugged. “I think you still had a chance.” When Makoto didn’t immediately say anything in response, Ken stepped closer and asked in a pleading tone, “C’mon, Makoto… Mako-chan… we’ve been friends since fifth grade… why didn’t you tell me you were planning to transfer schools?”

“I was going to, I just couldn’t find the right timing…”

“That’s not a good excuse,” Usagi chided, returning from the rhythm game area just in time to catch the end of the conversation.

Makoto smiled knowingly at her. “I take it the new song wasn’t available yet?”

“I don’t know what’s taking them so long,” Usagi grumbled, then shook her head. “More importantly, Makoto! Friends should be able to talk to each other about anything! Right, Naru?”

“Huh? Oh, uh… yeah…” Naru took a deep breath. “Y’know what? I’m super tired. Think I’m gonna go home early.”

“Are you okay?” Usagi peered closely at her. “You’re not getting a summer cold or anything are you?”

“No, I think my body’s just still in summer holidays mode.”

Usagi crossed her arms and nodded, “I know exactly what you mean.”

“Usagi, you’re always in summer holidays mode!” Yumiko’s voice echoed out of the UFO catcher corner.

“Hey!”

“Ken, I appreciate that you came all this way, but as you can see I’m fine. It’s a long way home, so you should probably get going,” Makoto gently took advantage of the situation.

Ken opened his mouth as if to protest, but in the end his shoulders slumped and he sighed. “Fine, if that’s what you want…”

Naru picked up her school bag and gave him a sympathetic look. “I’ll point you in the direction of the station.”

“Thanks.” With one last look at Makoto, Ken followed Naru outside.

Usagi looked up at Makoto worriedly. “Are you really okay with sending him away?”

Motoki poked his head out from the back. “Sometimes the closer you are to someone the harder it is to bring up uncomfortable topics… not that I was eavesdropping or anything.” He balked a little as none of them believed him and let it show clearly on their faces. “Why don’t I treat you girls to some juice and you can relax for a bit?”

“Ooh, really?” Usagi’s love for Motoki increased a good 150%.

“I don’t know…” Makoto meanwhile, was a bit more shy about it.

“Don’t be silly. Wait right there, I’ll be right back. Yumiko, do you want juice?” Motoki called as he turned to go back into the staff area.

“Sure!” Yumiko called back. She then came running around the corner with the box for her coveted Honoka figure held above her head. “Makoto, if you still feel bad, then just pretend you’re celebrating with me because I GOT MY FIGURE!!”

Usagi squealed. “Awesome!”

“You got the alternate version too,” Motoki said appreciatively. “Good job. Celebratory juice it is.”

When Motoki returned with the juice, Usagi and Yumiko were busy unboxing her Honoka figure while Makoto looked on. He set the tray down on the table and put Makoto’s by her elbow as he took the other chair.

“I don’t know all the details, but I can say this; someone who will come all the way to check in on you is a good friend. You’re very lucky to have Ken.”

“Yeah,” Makoto smiled faintly. “I am.”

“But I get it, sometimes it’s the people closest to you that are the hardest to be open and honest with.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Usagi protested, looking up from Yumiko’s new figure.

“Surely you must have something you can’t tell even Naru, Usagi?” Motoki pointed out patiently.

Usagi looked wounded. “Well, yeah, but there are extending circumstances.” There was a beat of silence and Usagi panicked. “Did I say the wrong word again?”

“You did, and we don’t have Ami here to translate,” Yumiko sighed.

“I think you meant ‘extenuating’ circumstances,” Motoki suggested.

“Are you a genius too, Motoki?” Usagi practically radiated amazement.

Makoto laughed.

“That’s just what I mean though, some things are just hard to come out and say for personal reasons. When Mamoru first moved away, he didn’t tell me why, and we were a lot younger, so it took awhile before we reconnected. It hurt, but when he finally was ready to explain what happened, I understood and now we’re friends like those years apart never happened.”

 

As they walked down the covered shopping street, Naru peeked over at Ken and bit her lip. “Um… if you don’t mind my asking…”

He blinked his way out of his train of thought and gave her a pleasant smile. “Ask away.”

“It sounded like you and Makoto were really close once…”

“I think we’re still close,” Ken said slowly. “But people change. Part of it’s my fault, when I got together with my girlfriend I kind of spent all my time with her and didn’t have time for Makoto. If I had, maybe should would have told me why she suddenly decided to move here…”

“I see…” Naru said quietly.

Ken huffed and pulled his hand from his pocket with a little bundle wrapped in a handkerchief. “I brought a housewarming gift but didn’t get the chance to give it to her…” He looked from it to Naru, “I don’t know if she’d want me to tell you this, but Makoto lives by her--”

Ken broke off mid-sentence as he bumped shoulders with someone going the opposite direction and was momentarily knocked off balance. The little handkerchief-wrapped present flew out of his hand and skittered across the pavement.

“Sorry about that,” a familiar husky voice said. Naru’s breath caught in her throat as Sanjouin Masato picked up Ken’s present and after waiting to be absolutely sure he had his balance again, handed it back. “I should have been watching where I was going.”

“No, it’s alright,” Ken accepted the present and put it safely back in his pocket. “I should have been paying better attention too.”

Sanjouin’s eyes landed on Naru. “Friend of yours?”

She glanced at Ken. “Friend of a friend?” She answered, her tone rising at the end out of uncertainty.

Ken shrugged. “Something like that.”

Sanjouin gave a half smile and turned to go with the off-hand comment, “So not your boyfriend.”

Ken looked from Sanjouin to Naru and burst out laughing. “Your face is bright red!”

Naru slapped her hands onto her cheeks. “Omigod. I’m so glad Usagi and the others aren’t here. You absolutely cannot tell them.”

Ken made a zipping motion across his mouth. “My lips are sealed.”

 

Nephrite knew Zoicite had materialized in the alley behind him when an unseasonal cherry blossom petal fluttered onto his shoulder.

“Wasn’t that girl friends with your last target, too?”

“She was.”

Zoicite crossed his arms and hmmm’d at length. “Seems a bit of a coincidence. Did your stars tell you anything about her?”

The sardonic emphasis on ‘stars’ irked Nephrite but he chose not to rise to the bait. “Nothing clear yet.”

Zoicite traced a gloved finger along his bottom lip as if drawing out the smile that spread across his face. “She is around the same age as those Sailor girls, isn’t she? Maybe I should pay her a little visit.”

“At least try to find concrete evidence before you start pestering every teenaged girl you come across. Besides, all three of them came to her rescue.”

“You’re no fun.”

And then Zoicite was gone again. What had he even shown up for? 

Rather than concern himself with that, Nephrite narrowed his eyes at Naru’s back as she stopped at the end of the street to point the target, Ken Ken, towards what was presumably the station. The truth was, when Nephrite had tried divinating her in the stars as a possible target, he’d gotten nothing. Nothing but a lingering, nebulous, just-out-of-reach premonition...

 

Later that week, the bell rang to signal the end of class and Naru began gathering up her books. “Usagi~ wanna come to my place?”

Usagi put her hands together apologetically. “Sorry, I have plans with Ami and Rei! Maybe tomorrow?”

“I’m free, Naru! How ‘bout it? You and me, we can get some crepes, maybe call it a date even?” Umino piped up, then immediately grabbed his bag and ran from the room before either Naru or Usagi could go through with the murderous looks they gave him.

“Gross,” Usagi gagged.

“I know, right?” Naru got to her feet.

“You like that Sanjouin guy anyway,” Usagi poked her in the arm.

“Not as much as you like Mamoru.”

“Can you not?” Usagi rolled her eyes dramatically. “Anyway, I’m really sorry about today.”

“It’s fine,” Naru waved it off in that not-really-fine way.

“Why don’t you see if Yumiko or Kuri are free? Or even Makoto.”

Naru already knew Yumiko and Kuri had other plans, but… She smiled sheepishly to herself as she realized she was being silly. And Makoto had seemed nice. “Yeah, maybe I’ll do that.”

 

Naru led Makoto into the store and looked around. Finding only the new part-timer, she asked, “Where’s Mom?”

“She went out to meet with some watchmakers and then was meeting Ikuko for dinner.”

“Oh, okay.” Turning back to Makoto she shrugged. “If she comes back early enough I can introduce you. Let’s go upstairs.” As she led the way up, she pondered aloud. “If she’s meeting Ikuko for dinner I wonder what I should eat…”

“Do you cook?” Makoto asked.

“Not really. I make a lot of frozen or pre-made stuff.”

“That’s a shame.”

“Well, maybe if I could make something like your lunch box from the other day…”

“I’ve had lots of practice,” Makoto laughed. She peeked into the kitchen as they reached the landing at the top of the stairs and grinned at Naru with a twinkle in her eye. “This seems like a good opportunity. If it’s alright with you, why don’t we make something together?”

“Sure!”

“Is there something you’d like to make?”

“Sweets!” she answered without thinking.

Makoto giggled. “We can’t have sweets for dinner.”

“Sure we can! Mom and I once had an entire strawberry shortcake for dinner,” Naru countered.

Makoto matched her playful tone and crossed her arms. “Well, I won’t stand for it. But I will allow for dessert.”

“Only dessert, huh…?” Naru thought for a moment. “Can we make chocolate chip cookies?”

“Sure. Let’s see what’s do-able with what’s already in your kitchen and then we can go to the supermarket for anything we need.”

“You’re like the older sister I never had!”

“That’s the best compliment anyone could ever give me.”

 

Usagi ran up the last few stairs, gasping for breath. Her uniform blouse clung to her back uncomfortably and her bangs were plastered to her forehead. Why did her life have to involve so many stairs?

“You’re late,” Rei called from where she, Ami, and Luna were sitting in the shade.

“Sorry, sorry…” Usagi stumbled over to join them. “It’s just sooo hot.”

Rei poured her a glass of iced barley tea and huffed. “It’s supposed to be hot all through next week. The only reprieve we might get is that typhoon that they’re saying might come this way.”

Usagi groaned.

Luna cleared her throat. “Well, now that we’re all here, we need to discuss the search for the Silver Moon Crystal and decide what our next plan of action should be.”

“I’ve been doing research online but so far nothing like what you’ve described appears in either historical records or any mythological stories I could find.”

Luna nodded. “Somehow I knew you wouldn’t.”

“The fires continue to tell me nothing,” Rei folded her arms into the sleeves of her hakama. “They just keep pointing to Usagi, which makes sense, since she’s Sailor Moon.”

“Could it be that the source of Usagi’s power is the Silver Moon Crystal all along?” Ami surmised.

“You mean like, my brooch?” Usagi pulled the brooch out and turned it over in her hands. “How does this thing work, anyway?”

“I already asked, but Luna didn’t have an answer,” Ami told her.

Usagi suddenly happened on an idea and sat up straighter. “Maybe Rei’s fires aren’t pointing at me, they’re pointing at Luna. Luna! Are you sure you can’t sparkle the Silver Moon Crystal out of your butt?”

Luna gave her a look of great reproach. “I do not ‘sparkle items out of my butt’.”

“But you do sparkle them into existence,” Usagi was undaunted.

“Yes, but they are items I already have access to… it’s… it’s complicated.” Luna licked her paw. “And your way of wording it is uncouth.”

“Unwhat now?”

“What if we use the wand Usagi created?” Rei suggested.

“Untooth…?” Usagi had ceased paying attention.

“How do you mean?” But they still had Ami.

Rei shifted position and explained. “Again, the flames keep pointing me towards Usagi, towards Sailor Moon, and the wand is the only one of our magic items that wasn’t created with Luna’s magic. Tonight’s the full moon too, why don’t I try divinating with the wand?”

“It seems worth a shot,” Luna agreed.

“If anything, it would be a new element I can add to my data set,” Ami happily added. “I’m pleased to have any opportunity to study your abilities Rei.”

“If anyone was ever going to scientifically break it down, it would be you, Ami,” Rei remarked. “Usagi, what do you think?”

“Seems okay to me.”

“I can come back here after cram school,” Ami suggested. “I finish at 10:30 today.”

“I’ll sneak out after Sailor V’s livestream, so maybe 11ish?” Usagi began tapping on her phone to recheck the time.

“Speaking of data, Ami,” Luna looked up from washing her paws. “We also need to talk about the new enemy.”

Ami shook her head. “I went swimming at the pool connected to the community center where the tennis tournament was held and that gave me access to the locker rooms. I didn’t find any evidence, not physical, nor any energy-related that the tablet you provided could detect.”

“Detective Ami…!” Usagi looked up breathlessly with stars in her eyes.

“You could try thinking of ways to help yourself, Usagi, instead of just being amazed by Ami and Rei’s efforts,” Luna chided her.

“I’m being supportive. Besides, I’m not high-spec like they are.”

Her use of ‘high-spec’ was borderline off the mark, but Luna let it slide this time. Before she could think of what to say instead, Ami played peacemaker.

“Usagi has proven to be an asset in battles against the youma,” she pointed out, “and she did create the wand.”

“If this was an RPG I’d be the fighter character, basically,” Usagi sat back on her heels and refilled her tea. “Which is awful scary, if you ask me.”

“Don’t worry, you’ve made that abundantly clear.”

Usagi stuck her tongue out at Luna. She was right, of course, but still.

 

“Mom’s gonna be so jealous~” Naru said with a grin. “We’re totally making her favorites.”

“If we had more time we could make the gyouza from scratch, but we can make do with frozen ones,” Makoto held up the supermarket bag. “But since you already had leftover rice in the cooker and eggs, fried rice is a good start for learning how to cook.”

“So fried rice, gyouza, egg-drop soup, and what else?”

“Some quick pickles would be nice. Or a salad, it’s up to you.”

Naru couldn’t decide, so instead she asked, “How did you get so good at cooking, Makoto? I guess you must be a latchkey kid like me?”

Makoto’s step slowed for a brief moment as she smiled sadly down at the bag in her hands. “You could say that. My parents died in an accident when I was nine. Some stuff happened and I’ve been living on my own since I was twelve.”

Naru felt her heart drop into her stomach. “O-Oh, sorry for asking…”

Makoto shook her head. “It’s okay. I like cooking and doing housework, and you should see all the plants I’ve collected since I can’t get a pet.”

“Ooh, like what?”

“All sorts! Moving the vines here was a chore but my new apartment gets better light so they’re thriving already. My pride and joy though is a big lily that I got on sale one time. You should come over next time and see it.”

Naru opened her mouth to agree but was interrupted when someone yelled, “Mako-chan!”

“Ken…?” Makoto trailed off. “What are you doing here again?” Once she got a better look at her friend, the question then became, “What’s wrong with you?”

Ken stood before them with his shoulders hunched and dark circles under his eyes. His hair was dishevelled and something about his eyes looked… off.

“Mako-chan…” he said, sounding pained, “you have… to come back with me.”

“What?”

“Come back with me. I can’t… I can’t stop thinking about you. I need you…! I…”

Makoto passed her supermarket bag off to Naru. “What are you talking about?”

As she approached, Ken clutched at his head with both hands and nearly sank to his knees on the pavement. “Mako-chan… don’t leave me…!”

The sound of the late-summer cicadas was suddenly unbearably loud.

“K-Ken, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have left without saying anything, but…” Makoto took another step closer and tentatively reached to pat his shoulder, “as you can see, it’s not hard for you to come visit. You know you’re always welcome…”

As if spurred into action by her touch, Ken surged back upright and grabbed her by the arms, yelling, “ _That’s not good enough!!_ ”

Makoto watched the amber-coloured tears well up and overflow, marking dark tracks down his cheeks before her eyes. “Ken…”

Naru was so focused on what was happening with Makoto and Ken that she gave a jolt of surprise when someone whistled right by her ear and a sly voice remarked,

“My, my. Scary, isn’t it?”

Any agreement Naru had died in her throat, and she could only stare at the newcomer in shock.

Zoicite reached over and trailed his fingers down Naru’s wavy ginger hair to land on her shoulder, then swiftly moved closer to sweep his hand across her back and pull her close so he could whisper in her ear, “Come on now, no need to keep it a secret. Which one are you? The elegant fire user? The clever one with the water? Or the _pathetically_ soft-hearted Sailor Moon?”

“S-Sailor…?” Naru tried to take a step away but Zoicite had a surprisingly firm hold on her shoulder. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Don’t you?” Zoicite leaned even closer into her personal space. “Are you sure about that?”

“What are you doing?” Sanjouin Masato’s voice asked. “If you had paid attention at all when Queen Beryl reviewed the battle, you would have seen this girl was still there when they all three arrived.”

Naru shivered at the sound of him, but when she turned to see it… wasn’t… Sanjouin. Or was it? It looked like him but didn’t, just enough that she doubted herself. This strange man still holding on to her shoulders and the sound of Makoto arguing with Ken had her mentally off-balance. She couldn’t think straight. Her heart wouldn’t stop beating in her ears and a cold sweat was breaking out on her skin.

 

Usagi hopped down the last few stairs leaving Hikawa Shrine and looked up at the still bright blue late afternoon sky. “I wonder what Naru and Makoto ended up doing. I didn’t think we’d be finished this early, I could have offered to meet up with them. Naru’s seemed kind of down lately. Maybe we can listen to V’s livestream together! I’m gonna send her a message.”

“Talking to yourself, Bun? Isn’t that one of the first signs of madness?” Mamoru stopped his bicycle next to her and asked.

Usagi huffed in exasperation. “What are you doing here?”

“Just got off work at my part time job and was gonna stop by the supermarket while I thought about what to make for dinner.”

“You can cook?”

“I live by myself, kinda have to.”

Usagi stopped short. “You live by yourself?”

“Yeah, didn’t you know?”

Did she know? It was entirely possible she’d forgotten. So that was two people she knew now who could cook. Granted, she had no idea if Mamoru was any good at cooking, but she rather suspected that he would be infuriatingly good at it.

Speaking of things that Mamoru had in common with Makoto...

“Is it true you moved away without telling Motoki?”

Mamoru looked over in surprise. He crossed his arms on the handles of his bicycle and frowned a little. “Where did that come from?”

Usagi explained about Makoto and Ken. “Motoki said that the closer you are to someone the harder it can be to tell them things sometimes, but I don’t really get it.”

Mamoru considered her for a long time. “Motoki didn’t tell you why I moved away?”

She shook her head.

Mamoru looked at the ground for another long moment, his usual jovial attitude gone as he seemed to be choosing his words. “Both my parents died in a car crash when I was a kid.”

“Huh?”

“I moved away to live with some relatives in Kanagawa. It was hard, losing both of them at once, plus I was in the car, so I felt guilty for surviving, in a weird way. Over time, people’s sympathy began to feel just… so heavy. I couldn’t really process my own feelings, plus it felt like everyone was piling their own on top of them, and it hurt the most coming from people close to me. I couldn’t tell Motoki at the time, not just because I wasn’t finished processing the pain for myself, but because he was my best friend, I couldn’t bear to feel his sympathy and… in a way, I didn’t want to upset him either.” He half-smiled sadly at her, “I guess what it also comes down to is, when someone’s close to you, you hate to see them upset, and you hate even more to be the reason why they’re upset.”

Usagi didn’t know what to say at first. It was a lot to take in. It also made sense, when he put it that way. It also put a new spin on why Luna insisted she keep her Sailor Moon identity a secret from her friends and family. She rather saw Mamoru in a new light as well.

“I thought you were just a jerk…”

“Oh-ho?” Mamoru sat up straighter and set his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Do you think I’m cool now? Mature? Handsome?”

Ah, there was the Mamoru she knew. “Mature, maybe. Cool, possibly, in a super-duper loose definition of the word. Handsome has nothing to do with it.” She felt her face grow slightly warmer even as she said it because, much as she hated to admit it, he was kind of handsome.

“You didn’t say no, though.” He pointed out.

“You’re also still kind of a jerk.”

“I’ll take what I can get.”

Suddenly the weirdly pleasant mood was broken by a shout from up ahead, followed by two girls in uniforms from Usagi’s school rushing past.

“What’s going on over there? A fight?”  
“Let’s get out of here before something bad happens.”

Usagi watched them go, repeating, “A fight?” She and Mamoru approached the corner the girls had come around and peered down the street curiously. “Makoto! And… Ken?”

“The people you told me about?” Mamoru confirmed.

“Uh-huh… Wh--?!” Usagi froze as her eyes trailed past Makoto and Ken to see… “Naru!”

Naru was across the way, trapped between the new enemy, Nephrite, and another man wearing a similar uniform with a long, wavy blond ponytail. Instinctively, Usagi took a step forward, but then stopped short. She couldn’t transform into Sailor Moon and go help with Mamoru there…! What should she do?

Mamoru watched out the corner of his eye as Usagi bit her lip. He wanted to go help Naru, but he couldn’t do anything with Usagi there. All he could do is hope that the Sailor Guardians showed up soon… Unless…

“Um!” Usagi and Mamoru turned to each other and said at the same time.

“I’ll stay here and keep an eye on things, you should go get help,” Mamoru told her.

“I-I was gonna say the same to you!” Usagi said.

Mamoru huffed. “What can you do? I appreciate that you wanna help your friends, Bun, but if they notice me at least I can hold my own in a fight.”

Usagi was offended but then a tiny voice that sounded an awful lot like Luna in her head reminded her that she could agree to go, then transform into Sailor Moon as soon as she was out of sight and come back. She still stuck her tongue out at him on principle. “You couldn’t hold your own in a fight against my cat, I bet!”

“If she puts up with you on a daily basis, she must be strong. You’re probably right.”

“I hate you so much!” Usagi turned on her heel to go, but paused and looked back. “But… don’t do anything stupid or dangerous while I’m gone.”

“I promise,” he assured her.

“I’ll be right back!”

Usagi dashed off. As soon as she was out of sight, she pulled out her phone and quickly tapped a message to Rei letting her know what was happening. She then checked to make sure no one was around and…

“ _Moon Prism Power! Make Up!_ ”

 

Mamoru waited just long enough to make sure Usagi didn’t come right back, fully knowing that if she did and he had already left she would never forgive him. He used that moment to get off his bicycle and carefully walk it closer to what appeared to be a pair of mutually exclusive stand-offs. One of the men with Naru was definitely the guy that had been behind the trouble at the tennis tournament. The other he’d never seen before, but judging by the uniform he was equally bad news.

It had probably been enough time that he could go change into Tuxedo Mask, he thought, but then...

 

“All right all of you, hold it right there! Whatever you’re up to, it’s probably no good, and I’m here to punish you in the name of the moon!” Wow, not her best speech by a long shot. Usagi jumped down from the rooftop she’d used as a shortcut and tried to make up for her bad speech with a cool pose. She was kind of too worried about Naru to be sure though. “Get away from her!”

Zoicite didn’t let go of Naru, instead he shot Nephrite a sly grin. “Looks like you were right.”

Nephrite meanwhile narrowed his eyes as he looked down at Naru in thought. “Of course I was.”

Zoicite averted his gaze to Sailor Moon and caressed Naru’s cheek.

“I said get away from her!”

“Make me,” Zoicite chuckled. “What does it matter to you? Is this girl a friend of yours or something?” When he didn’t immediately get an answer, he pulled Naru even closer, wrapping a hand around her head to hold her face to his chest. “Well?”

Nephrite’s mind was still whirring, judging the situation. “You should also watch what’s going on behind you,” he suggested mildly.

Usagi looked back at where Makoto and Ken were grappling with each other, and past them, where Mamoru was watching on. She had to make sure no one got hurt. Hopefully Rei would be there soon to help. She could see from here that Ken had the same weird eyes Rui’d had.

“Don’t worry,” she called out to Makoto, “he’s under some kind of evil spell. He’s not himself!”

Makoto grit her teeth. “Clearly…! But even so…” She suddenly let go one hand and deftly twisted around to wrench Ken bodily over her shoulder and throw him hard to the ground. “Get a grip on yourself, dumbass!”

Holy crap, she was strong!

Makoto looked up at the two generals with murder in her eyes. “Was it them who made him this way?”

“Y-Yes… Well, I don’t know about Ponytail-ite over there, but No-ponytail-ite definitely.”

Neither Zoicite nor Nephrite looked impressed with their nicknames.

Oh no.

A chill ran down Usagi’s back. Now she was starting to nickname people against their will. She’d been spending too much time with Mamoru.

She was so distracted by this horrible realization that two things happened before she snapped out of it. Makoto left Ken writhing on the ground to stand facing Nephrite and Zoicite, cracking her knuckles with danger written all over her face, and Ken almost got up, but then Mamoru ran up and despite his promise that he wouldn’t do anything stupid or put himself in danger he set his knee in the small of the other boy’s back and called, “I’ve got this!”

Got what? What could he hope to have gotten?! Now she had to worry he was going to get hurt along with Naru and Makoto! What was this world coming to? Where was Rei?!

“I’ll take No-ponytail,” Makoto was saying, meanwhile.

Usagi whirled back around to protest, “You can’t, it’s too dangerous! Leave this to me!”

Makoto grinned recklessly down at her. “Two against two is better odds, innit? Besides, no one messes with my friends. You get what I mean, don’t you, little one?”

Usagi stared up at her at a loss for words.

“Fire Soul!”

Nephrite and Zoicite dodged in opposite directions as Sailor Mars’ fire preceded her arrival. Nephrite used the opportunity to grab Naru out of Zoicite’s grip. She stumbled as he did so, falling against his chest and he had to put his arm around her to steady her. She twisted around to look up at him and he furrowed his brow even further. What was it about this girl? She clearly wasn’t one of the Sailor Guardians, and she didn’t seem to know them, yet the stars and circumstances kept putting her in close proximity… Or was he reading too much into it? It was too close to make a judgement call, but at the same time, there had been recognition on Sailor Moon’s face…

Nephrite had to break off his contemplation as Makoto used the fire as an excuse to ignore Usagi’s protests and come at him with a flurry of punches.

Zoicite laughed and mocked, “Look at you, so popular with the ladies!”

“Sorry, did you want attention too?” Usagi shouted, emboldened by Rei’s presence. After creating the wand, her tiara had reappeared the next time she transformed, but she had yet to give its signature attack a retry. Focusing her energy she let loose with, “Moon Tiara Action!” and was pleased to see it still worked.

That was, until Zoicite knocked it out of the air with ease and the golden disc clattered to the pavement.

“Aw, come on!” Usagi stamped her foot in frustration. She liked that attack.

Zoicite smirked. “You’re very mistaken if you think I’m anywhere near Jadeite’s level.”

Rei stood next to Usagi and lifted her chin to look imperiously upon him. “You’re the one who’s mistaken if you think we can’t handle the likes of you.”

“Heh,” Zoicite remained unfazed. “Have you forgotten? Nephrite and I aren’t the only ones you need to be concerned with right now.”

Usagi snapped to attention. “Oh yeah!” 

She whipped around to check on Ken and Mamoru, just in time for Ken to let loose with an inhuman roar of rage. He made another effort to get up, and in the process a little handkerchief-wrapped bundle dropped from his pocket to roll over once on the pavement and unfold to reveal…

A face.

“Holy crap! Why are the youma suddenly so much more creepy?!” Usagi wailed and grabbed onto Rei.

The face surged upwards, with the pattern of the handkerchief clinging to it like a lion’s mane even as she wrapped her body around Ken’s. His body jerked unnaturally as the youma took control and backhanded Mamoru clear into the trees bordering the park across the street.

“Ken!” Makoto shouted.

At the same time Usagi cried, “Mamoru!”

Zoicite looked over at Nephrite. “Got all the energy to be gotten?”

Nephrite shoved Naru at Makoto, who just barely caught her. To Zoicite, he replied, “So it would seem. I’ll be sure to include your egregious actions here in my report, Zoicite.” He disappeared.

“Hey, wait!” Zoicite shouted, pausing only to glare around at everyone before disappearing as well in pursuit.

“Oh, sure, leave us to clean up your mess, why don’t you!” Usagi shouted in their wake. She ran over to Makoto and Naru. “Are you two okay?”

“I’m fine,” Makoto told her, “but it looks like Naru fainted.”

“Who knows what those jerks did to her before we got here.”

“Sailor Moon,” Rei called, “we need to take care of the youma!”

“Oh, I’ll take care of it,” Makoto handed Naru to Usagi and began stalking towards the youma with a fearless intent that Usagi found, frankly, to be beyond comprehension. Wasn’t she afraid? Like, not even a little bit?

Wait…

Were her eyes playing tricks on her, or…?

Usagi looked over at Rei, and was able to read on her face that she’d noticed the same thing. “Mars! Did Luna come with you?”

Luna came bounding on the scene. “I’m here!” She deftly slipped past the youma and ran up to Makoto, dropping a gold and green pen at her feet. “Makoto, your forehead! That’s the sign of Jupiter!”

“Huh?” Makoto put her hand to her forehead, only just barely hiding the faint green glow that had appeared there. “Wait, did this cat just talk?”

“Out of everything happening, that’s the first thing you find strange?!” Usagi looked up from where she was setting Naru gently on the ground.

The youma lunged at Makoto and she used her own momentum to lift her (and the newly ‘marionetted’ Ken) off her feet and send her crashing to the ground. “Get off Ken, dammit!”

“Um…” Luna watched all this with wide eyes. “I mean, you can clearly handle yourself but still. Take this and say, ‘Jupiter Power! Make up’!”

“Anything that’ll help.” Makoto snatched up the pen and held it aloft, repeating the words, “ _Jupiter Power! Make Up!_ ”

The first thing Usagi noticed as Makoto emerged from the sparkles and glitter was the scent of roses and something that reminded her of a deep woods. Her hair had paled to such a light brown it appeared almost pink-tinted. Her sailor uniform was a deep forest green with a pale rose bow at her chest and a string of jewels around her waist, from which hung a preserved rose in a glass ball. In any case, she wasn’t Tuxedo Mask.

Probably.

Usagi ran over and withdrew the crescent moon wand. “Jupiter, I’ll get the youma off of Ken, after that I’ll need you and Mars, okay? We’ll explain everything else after.”

Makoto quickly snapped to attention. “Okay.”

Usagi focused her energy and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she drew a wide circle around herself and chanted, “Moon Healing Escalation!”

The magical energy washed over the Ken-youma combo and with an inhuman, strangled cry from the both of them, the youma wrenched herself from his body and Ken dropped to the ground unconscious.

“Okay, let’s--” Rei started to say, but Makoto was already on the move, punching the youma square in the face and knocking her off her feet. Rei sighed. “That’s not quite what we had in mind.”

“It felt good though,” Makoto said sheepishly.

“It felt good to watch!” Usagi piped up.

Makoto noticed she was struggling to stay on her feet. “Are you okay?”

“Not really, let’s get this over with in case I faint again.”

Makoto and Rei nodded. Makoto looked down at her hands and pressed her lips into a firm line. It was so strange, the words were already forming within her…

“Supreme Thunder!”

Rei followed quickly with, “Fire Soul!”

And Usagi added her own with, “Moon Twilight Flash!”

The combined magical attacks quickly reduced the weakened youma to dust. Immediately Makoto ran to Ken’s side to check on him.

Usagi stumbled as she wheeled around. “Naru…!” But then she paused and looked across the street. “Mamoru…”

Rei sighed. She broke her transformation and crossed over to kneel next to Naru. “I’ll handle her, you go check on Mamoru. Make sure you go as yourself, though, okay?”

Usagi curled her fingers around her brooch and the Sailor Moon transformation melted off her. She took off running across the street, still stumbling just a little. The wand really took a lot out of her. She was definitely going to need a nap when she got home.

 

Across the street, where he was sprawled out in the bushes, Mamoru slowly came awake to a pounding headache. It took him a moment to remember how he got there. Naru and Makoto were being accosted by the bad people the Sailor Guardians were always fighting against… and he’d tried to help when a youma sent him flying and…

...wait…

Had he imagined it, or did Sailor Moon call his name…?

“Mamoru!”

A pigtailed blur backlit by the almost-sunset light came crashing through the brush calling his name and he squinted up at her. “Sailor… Moon…?”

“Mamoru, are you okay?!” Usagi dropped to her knees and helped him the rest of the way as he struggled to sit up.

“Oh, it’s just you, Bun.”

“Whaddayamean it’s _just_ me?!” she scolded him with a punch to the arm. “You promised you’d stay out of danger!”

He laughed a little, then put a hand to his forehead as that made his head pound even harder. At the same time, he was very aware of Usagi’s hand moving to his back and her hovering presence drawing closer. Looking over at her he gave a foppish grin and asked, “Worried about me?”

She blushed, getting flustered in that way he found to be really cute. “O-Of course not. I just didn’t know what I’d tell Motoki if anything happened to you!”

“Haha, oh is that how it is?”

“How else would it be, you big jerk? Now come on, can you stand?”

 

A few days later, Usagi and Naru were just walking out of school when they spotted a familiar face waiting by the gate.

“Ken!” they greeted him.

He looked up, and when he recognized him, sheepishly returned the greeting. “Um, hi…”

“Waiting for Makoto?” Usagi asked.

“Yeah…”

Naru spotted the little potted fern he had and pointed it out. “Is that a housewarming gift?”

“Yeah, the… the handkerchief I had originally bought got damaged when I fainted the other day, so I went to replace it and saw this in the shop. It seemed more appropriate.” He held it up to show them the little glass horse figure set in the dirt at the base of the plant. “This was wrapped in the handkerchief, so it was safe.”

“It’s so cute!”

“I love it!” Makoto declared, simultaneously surprising them all with her presence. “I always did like horses.”

“Gak!” Usagi wheeled away. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Makoto laughed. “Sorry, sorry.” She accepted the plant from Ken and looked it over fondly. “This was really nice of you, thanks.”

“It was the least I could do. I don’t remember much but, I get the feeling you saved me again the other day…”

Makoto shrugged as if to say it was nothing, then happened on an idea. “Hey, Naru, do you think your mom would mind one more person coming over today?”

“I don’t think so?”

Makoto looped her arm around Ken’s neck and tousled his hair. “I’m teaching these two how to make chocolate chip cookies today, you wanna come play sempai?”

“Ow, ow, ow, Mako-chan! How many times I gotta tell you, you don’t know your own strength!”

“Oh you’re fine. And you’re coming right? You can take some home for your girl.” Makoto winked at Naru and Usagi, “You gals better think about what special someone’s gonna get your homemade cookies, too.”

“Huh?” Usagi’s mouth dropped open. She didn’t get to eat them herself?

Naru gave her a devilish side-eye and grinned. “We all know Usagi’s are going to Mamoru.”

“Excuse you, the only place those cookies are going is my stomach!”

“Ah yes, your actual one true love.”

“Exactly. What about you, Naru? Who were you thinking of giving cookies to?” Usagi poked her in the arm.

For a moment, Sanjouin Masato crossed Naru’s mind and she blushed. “N-No one.”

Usagi pounced. “You can’t fool me! It’s written on your face! C’mon! Out with it! Who? Umino? Is it Umino? It’s Umino, isn’t it?!”

“Gross, no way!”

“It better not be Motoki!”

“I swear you just say that out of habit these days…”


End file.
